Chief Constable Cumbria Constabulary

The complainant has requested information regarding an incident of a drone being shot down. Cumbria Constabulary provided some information within the scope of the request, relied on section 40(2) of FOIA (third party personal information) to withhold some information and denied holding any information within the scope of question 3. The Commissioner’s decision is that: Cumbria Constabulary has correctly relied on section 40(2) of FOIA to withhold information relating to the data subject who shot the drone. Cumbria Constabulary was not entitled to rely on section 40(2) regarding information which relates to the drone pilot. Cumbria Constabulary breached section 10(1) by failing to respond within 20 working days. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation. Disclose the information relating to the drone pilot (question 5) or issue an appropriate refusal notice which does not rely on section 40(2). Cumbria Constabulary must take these steps within 30 calendar days of the date of this decision notice. Failure to comply may result in the Commissioner making written certification of this fact to the High Court pursuant to section 54 of the Act and may be dealt with as a contempt of court.