Transparency not always in the public interest, says deputy ICO

The ICO says that the decision to force the public disclosure of information can be a difficult one

With super-injunctions high on the public agenda, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has revealed that transparency is not always in the public interest.

Speaking at an event called "An Information War", which examined the balance between national security and individual privacy, Graham Smith, deputy commissioner and director of freedom of information at the ICO, explained the balancing act the ICO performs.

"Sometimes transparency is in the public interest and sometimes it's privacy. The ICO has an adjudicatory role in requests for information from a public body."

He added that the ICO can compel the release of information where it deems the request to be in the public interest, and that this is supported by law.

"There's an assumption in the legislation that disclosure is a good thing."

But Smith stated that with the exponential growth in access to technology that enables the transfer of information around the world, controlling the flow of information is more difficult.

The highly distributed nature of the internet means that the ICO would not have the jurisdiction to control information once released, even if it were possible.

"The Freedom of Information Act governs the UK, and our courts are similarly territorial, so control over this [global] information is pretty much impossible," he said.