Handling FOI requests in an 'applicant blind' manner ensures that every FOI request receives the same treatment, irrespective of who submits it
You may have heard about news stories that were ‘broken’ by a particular newspaper, journalist or member of the public who utilised a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to uncover, important and sometimes, damning information. However, did you know that organisations dealing with such requests must provide a consistent response regardless of the requester's identity?
This is known as handling requests in an ‘applicant blind’ manner ensuring that every FOI request receives the same treatment, irrespective of who submits it.
This is why the Information Governance Team when allocating FOI requests to specific departments, deliberately withhold information about the requestor’s identity. You may have wondered why this is. It is simply to ensure that the response that is provided is not influenced by the knowledge of the requestor’s identity. The objective is to avoid any possibility of providing less or different information based on who is making the request.
There are rare occasions where we may consider the identity of the requester. This happens when the request is for personal data or when it’s potentially vexatious. In these circumstances, it can be relevant to know the identity of the requestor and we may share this information with colleagues. But these are very rare situations and generally, we should always approach requests neutrally. We then assess the information that is held and evaluate what can be safely disclosed into the public domain. This ensures transparency and fairness in our response to FOI requests.
If you have any questions about FOI, please contact the Information Governance team at foi@abdn.ac.uk.