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I made a FOI request regarding final year assessment marks for a training program I am on as I do not agree with the exam board. I asked for all data to be anonymised and for the raw marks before any statistical adjustment, achieved by all candidates in all stations and this was the response I received -
“We are withholding some of this information under Section 40 of the FOI act
Due to the small size of the cohorts, releasing the raw marks of candidates could risk identifying individuals, we are therefore withholding this information under Section 40 of the FOI Act.
Section 40(2) states that requested information is exempt from disclosure if the first or the second condition at section 40(3A)(a) of the FOI Act is satisfied. This is on the grounds that it amounts to personal data and the first condition under section 40(3A)(a) is satisfied, namely that disclosure would amount to a breach of the first data protection principle (personal data should be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner) as the individuals concerned would have a reasonable expectation that these particular items of personal information would not be disclosed into the public domain.
We consider that the disclosure of this information could breach an individual’s confidentiality, as there is a risk that individuals may be identified if this data is put together with other information that is, or may become, available on that individual”.
Do you think their response is valid and should I give up now or do you think this is a fair request and ask for an internal review as stated in the email if I am not happy with the response?
“We are withholding some of this information under Section 40 of the FOI act
Due to the small size of the cohorts, releasing the raw marks of candidates could risk identifying individuals, we are therefore withholding this information under Section 40 of the FOI Act.
Section 40(2) states that requested information is exempt from disclosure if the first or the second condition at section 40(3A)(a) of the FOI Act is satisfied. This is on the grounds that it amounts to personal data and the first condition under section 40(3A)(a) is satisfied, namely that disclosure would amount to a breach of the first data protection principle (personal data should be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner) as the individuals concerned would have a reasonable expectation that these particular items of personal information would not be disclosed into the public domain.
We consider that the disclosure of this information could breach an individual’s confidentiality, as there is a risk that individuals may be identified if this data is put together with other information that is, or may become, available on that individual”.
Do you think their response is valid and should I give up now or do you think this is a fair request and ask for an internal review as stated in the email if I am not happy with the response?
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