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Status of licensing information

Broadly, sensitive information relating to a licence will be regarded as a confidential matter between ourselves - Ofcom (as the statutory authority) and the licensee/applicant. Generally this information will include details about a person and technical parameters of their licence/application.

An obvious exception to the above is if, on application, the licensee consents to the specific disclosure (e.g. to the radio supplier installing the system) or the application is, as often happens, routed to us through the supplier.

A further exception applies under the European Authorisation Directive, which requires transparency in the award of licences for which there has been some form of competition because of spectrum limitations.

Under section 170 of the Communications Act, in order to facilitate trading Ofcom has power to make regulations to make provision for the establishment and maintenance of a register of relevant licensing information. This information is available at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/isu/ukpfa/intro

The Data Protection Act 1998

The Data Protection Act provides further protection for the personal data of individuals, defined as anything that is identifiable with an individual, held on computer, on paper or on other media such as sound or video recordings. It prohibits disclosure of personal data except to persons specified in particulars registered with the Data Protection Registrar and in certain circumstances set into this 1998 Act. However, where data is published because there is a statutory provision to do so, this normally overrides the provisions of the 1998 Act. It is anticipated that the Communications Act provision to have a register of licensing information may include personal data relating to licensing information.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Freedom of Information Act allows anyone the right to ask for information held by Ofcom. Ofcom may be requested to disclose information provided by a third party. Information that has been obtained under a statutory power or considered to be commercially sensitive may be regarded as confidential and potentially covered by exemptions under the Act. Ofcom may contact the owner of information in order to discuss disclosure before deciding whether to release the information.

Disclosure to other government departments or police

Ofcom may sometimes receive requests for disclosure about individuals from government bodies such as the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, Local Council Fraud Offices, and the Police. Ofcom is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 but may disclose information to investigators of this kind but the general rules only permit disclosure under certain circumstances e.g. where disclosure is required by law.

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