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This refusal ground is designed to protect the privacy of people other than the requester. A requester's right to access information about themselves is very strong, but sometimes other people's privacy rights are more important.
This refusal ground is most often used in situations where information about the requester is also information about someone else. For example, suppose a file contains information about why a child was placed in foster care. One parent asks for access to information about themselves from the file. Information on the file about that parent may have come from other people in the family, or may involve details of family relationships. The information is about both the parent and those other people, including the child. The organisation needs to think about the privacy of those other people as well.
Another common situation is where one person makes a complaint about another's behaviour. It is important that the person who the complaint is against should know enough to be able to have their say. But the complainant may also have given details of how the behaviour affected them personally, or may not wish to be named. In that situation, the agency also needs to consider the complainant's privacy. This section shows the agency what steps to take.
| 53. Other reasons for refusing access to personal information An agency may refuse access to any personal information requested if— |
| (b) the disclosure of the information would involve the unwarranted disclosure of the affairs of— |
| (i) another individual; or (ii) a deceased person |
What are someone's 'affairs'?
In practice, 'affairs' means any information about the other individual, including who they are. Although “affairs” was generally to be understood as requiring a course of conduct (see case O v N (CRT 19/94 Decision No 4/96), a single event or action might also be included.
Should an agency use this section to withhold information that is only about other people, not the requester?
No. The requester is not entitled to get access to information about other people under principle 6.
This refusal ground only applies to information that is about the requester and also includes information about other people. However, you cannot automatically redact information that is about more than one person. You need to balance the privacy interests.
When will the other person's privacy be more important than the requester's right of access?
Requesters have a strong right of access to information about themselves. This means that the other person's privacy interests must be even stronger before the information can be withheld. In wording of the legislation, the disclosure of information about the other person must be 'unwarranted'. To decide whether the disclosure would be unwarranted, the requester's privacy rights are balanced against the other person's privacy rights.
Some useful tips to help consider whether the other person's privacy interests are stronger than the requester's right of access are:
Can an organisation use this ground to refuse to tell me who informed on me?
Quite possibly, though this will depend on whether the disclosure of the information would be unwarranted. This might be the case where the informant expressly asked the organisation to withhold their identity from you. This might also be the case where the organisation thinks that revealing the identity of the informant may put that person in danger. If the organisation has a law enforcement function, the maintenance of the law withholding ground may be more relevant. The organisation can also withhold information on safety grounds.
