Home Office

The complainant requested a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) relating to UK Border Force’s collection and processing of the personal data of incoming travellers to reduce the spread of Covid-19. The Home Office initially relied on section 31 of the FOIA (law enforcement) to withhold the information. It subsequently also relied upon section 42 (legal professional privilege) to withhold part of the document and section 28 (relations within the UK) to withhold the entire document. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office has not adequately explained why either section 31 or section 28 is engaged in respect of the withheld information and is therefore not entitled to rely on either exemption. However, she considers that the Home Office has correctly cited section 42 and that the balance of the public interest favours maintaining the exemption. As the Home Office failed to issue a refusal notice, citing all of the exemptions on which it later came to rely, within 20 working days, the Home Office breached section 17 of the FOIA. The Commissioner requires the Home Office to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: disclose the DPIA – with the exception of section 6.8 and the small amount of personal data that the Home Office has identified.