Public authorities should take the following practical steps
to respect the confidential nature of the information:
When receiving the confidential information, public authorities
should state explicitly that such information will be held on
an understanding of confidence, subject to the requirements of
the FOI Act and other legal requirements;
Once the information has been supplied, steps should be taken
to ensure that the physical handling of the information respects
its confidential nature through, for example:
Restricting circulation to those who need to see the information
Indicating clearly on the file cover the confidential nature
of the contents
Ensuring that hard copies are physically secure in locked
cabinets or drawers
Ensuring that electronically held records are adequately
protected;
Consider whether and at what intervals it will be necessary
to review the confidentiality of the information to ensure that
only information whose disclosure would still be exempt by virtue
of section 41 is protectively marked: the need to keep information
confidential is likely to decrease over time;
Adherence to these standards will help the management of confidential
information and assist with responding to future FOI requests.
