ICO Decisions On Two PATI Requests
Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez has issued two decisions on PATI requests involving the Information and Digital Technologies Department and Bermuda Police Service.
A spokesperson said, “Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 21/2024, Information and Digital Technologies Department and, on 29 July 2024, Decision 22/2024, Bermuda Police Service.
“In Decision 21/2024, the Applicant had made a PATI request for various records related to Cyberdine, including the Department’s service agreement with the company, relevant invoices and records on the rationale for extension of the agreement.
“In response, the Department disclosed to the Applicant a number of emails and invoices but denied public access to other responsive records. The Department determined that those other records were exempt because their disclosure could reasonably have had a significant adverse effect on its functions relating to management and/or could have prejudiced Bermuda’s national security. Additionally, the Department refused access to records containing information on the amount and length of its agreement with Cyberdine, because it believed that information was already available in the public domain.
“In response, the Applicant requested an independent review from the Information Commissioner to challenge the Department’s reliance on these exemptions while also questioning the reasonableness of its search to locate responsive records. During the Information Commissioner’s review, the Applicant agreed not to challenge the Department’s decision to withhold parts of the responsive records that would identify the actual deliverables of the agreement. This resulted in the removal of parts of the withheld records from the Information Commissioner’s review.
“In her Decision, the Information Commissioner found that the Department did not conduct a reasonable search to locate records on the rationale for extension of the service agreement with Cyberdine. She also concluded that the Department’s reliance on the exemptions to withhold parts of the records that were still at issue, was not justified. But she found that certain information in the withheld records was exempt under the personal information exemption and that the public interest test required disclosure of limited personal information only. The Information Commissioner has ordered the Department to disclose the withheld records [with exempt and non-responsive information removed], to conduct a reasonable search to locate records on the rationale
“for extension of the service agreement, and to issue a new initial decision on or before 6 September 2024.
“In Decision 22/2024, the Applicant had made a PATI request to the BPS for various records concerning the closed criminal investigation into allegations of medical fraud against physicians at the Bermuda Healthcare Services and the Brown-Darrell Clinic.
“Initially, the BPS refused public access to the records because they either contained information that was personal, commercial or received in confidence, pertained to the deliberations or operations of the BPS, or pertained to law enforcement.
“In her Decision, the Information Commissioner found that the BPS was not justified in denying access based on these exemptions because the BPS had not located and assessed the requested records. However, the Information Commissioner varied the BPS’s internal review decision to instead administratively deny the PATI request, because further processing the request would have created a substantial and unreasonable burden.”
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