Freedom of Information requests
A number of Freedom of information requests have been turned down because the information also contains personal information on a 3rd party.
A simple solution would be to redact any personal information with a black magic marker. Thereby allowing information to be obtained by anyone.
The Freedom of Information act should be amended to allow for this, and stop the withholding of publicly owned information.
Why the contribution is important
Withholding important documents from the public is not acceptable, nor is using the excuse that it also contains personal information on a 3rd party. In order to ensure that Government bodies maintain the trust of the public, this alteration to the FOI needs to be implemented immediately.
A good example where this should be applied is the FOI exception placed on the ME documents held at The National Archives, Kew. Which are closed for the next 73 years.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...75665&CATLN=7&Highlight=&FullDetails=True&j=1 This exception has only fuelled the distrust and suspicion by patients and doctors, contributing to the breakdown of the patient doctor relationship.
