RE: FIO request looks still ongoing21 Oct 2021 23:49
Section 43 ……
What exemptions are contained in section 43 of FOIA?
Section 43(1) provides an exemption from disclosure for information which is a trade secret.
Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity).
Section 43(3) provides an exemption from the duty to confirm or deny whether you hold information, if doing so would, or would be likely to, prejudice the interests protected by section 43(2).
All of the exemptions are subject to the public interest test.
How do we apply section 43(1)?
FOIA does not define the term ‘trade secret’. However, with reference to The Trade Secrets (Enforcement, etc.) Regulations 2018, the Commissioner considers that, to be a trade secret, information should:
be secret, in the sense that it is not generally known among, or readily accessible to, people within the circles that normally deal with that kind of information;
have a commercial value, because it is secret. Its disclosure should also be liable to cause real (or significant) harm to the owner or be advantageous to any rivals; and
be subject to reasonable steps under the circumstances, taken by the owner, to keep it secret.
A trade secret is the property of its owner. Clauses in employment contracts often prevent an ex-employee from disclosing a trade secret.
A trade secret may be a technical secret or a business secret.