What is publicly available information?

Publicly available information is any information which is contained in a publicly available publication.

Publicly available publications include things like:

• Books 

• Magazines

• Newspapers 

• Information posted publicly online

• Public registers

Or any other publication which is generally available to the public.

In some cases, it is less clear whether a publication is publicly available. The exact nature of the circumstances will be important.

For example, where an individual has intended to share personal information with only a restricted audience on a social media site an agency would need to think carefully about whether in the context of that particular situation this was actually a publicly available publication