Information Commissioner's Office

The complainant has requested information about a named individual and his company which he believes may be held by the ICO as part of its investigation into the use of data analytics for political purposes. The ICO relied on the exclusion from the duty to confirm whether the information was held provided by section 31(3). This was on the basis that to either confirm or deny the information was held would, or would be likely to prejudice its regulatory functions. The Commissioner’s decision is that the ICO is entitled to rely on section 31(3) to refuse to either confirm or deny it holds the requested information. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further action in this matter.