Secretary of State for the Home Department (Home Office)

The complainant has requested information about a Technical Capability Notice (TCN) which the Home Office reportedly issued to Apple Inc. The Home Office would neither confirm nor deny (NCND) whether it held the requested information, citing sections 23(5) (Security bodies), 24(2) (National security), 31(3) (Law enforcement) and 43(3) (Commercial interests) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Home Office was entitled to rely on section 23(5) of FOIA to issue an NCND response to the request.