NFRS 2024 40 - Thompson Cresent

You asked for

FOI Hello, so today 23.06.2024 there was a fire in a garden on Thompson crescent now the lady is saying it was arson so I'm a little worried because I live on the back of her I would just really like to no if this is true and need to keep an eye out.

Our Response

Answer: - Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service can neither confirm nor deny that it holds the request information. The information requested has been deemed exempt by virtue of section 40(5) Personal Information, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

To confirm or deny whether personal information exists could publicly reveal information about an identifiable individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy afforded to those persons under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Where an individual is requesting his or her own personal data the information is always exempt. Such information can be requested under other legislation.

Where an individual is requesting third party personal data the service must ensure that any action taken adheres to the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR. To clarify, the Freedom of Information Act only allows disclosure of personal data if that disclosure would be compliant with the principles for processing personal data. These principles are outlined under Article 5 of the UK GDPR.

Section 40 is a class based absolute exemption and there is no requirement to consider the public interest in this case.