Cabinet Office

The complainant submitted a request to the Cabinet Office seeking a copy of the ‘Facebook Insights files’ for the Prime Minister’s official Facebook page for a three month period. The Cabinet Office responded and argued that the requested information was exempt from disclosure on the basis of sections 35(1)(a) (formulation and development of government policy) and 35(1)(b) (Ministerial communications) of FOIA. It subsequently dropped its reliance on these exemptions and sought instead to withhold the information on the basis of section 36(2)(c) (effective conduct of public affairs) of FOIA. The Commissioner has concluded that the requested information is not exempt from disclosure on the basis of section 36(2)(c) of FOIA.