CR 9526 Skene Annex A – Exemptions
Section 22
Section 22 is engaged where, prior to the submission of an FOI request, there
is already an intention to publish the relevant material. There was such an
intention in this case, and therefore the exemption was engaged. However as
a qualified exemption information can only be withheld where the public
interest in disclosure is outweighed by that in favour of nondisclosure. There
is a clear public interest in ensuring that the public are provided with
information which enables them to meet IPS requirements for passport
photos. It is with this in mind that IPS publish the template and other related
information on their website.
However it is not in the public interest to disclose such templates before they
have been approved and formally adopted by IPS. This would lead to IPS
putting potentially inaccurate information and guidance into the public domain,
which could ultimately lead to the public submitting passport photos which do
not actually meet the agency’s requirements. Therefore I conclude that it
would, at the time of the request, have been appropriate to cite section 22(1)
and refuse access to the new template until such time as it was approved,
adopted, and published.
Sections 31(1)(a) and (e)
IPS do not require all applicants to attend in person for their applications for
passports. In part they rely on a series of processes, checks and balances as
well as technological advances to minimise disruption on the public. One of
these technological advances is that of facial recognition (biometrics). The
effectiveness of this process relies on IPS being able to isolate and measure
specific features of each individual face supplied with passport applications.
The security and integrity of this process requires that these exact
measurement criteria are not publicised, as doing so would aid those wish to
abuse this system. For these reasons both sections 31(1)(a) and 31(1)(e),
relating to the prevention and detection of crime, and the effective operation of
immigration controls, are engaged.
However as section 31 is a qualified exemption it can only be applied where
the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by that in favour of
nondisclosure. In order to obtain good quality photos/images IPS need to
ensure the public and photographic industry understand what they require and
how to achieve it. For this reason they publish tailored sets of information on
their website (one for the general public and a separate one for industry), as it
is clearly in the public interest to do so. This ensures the industry and public
are well informed regarding IPS processes whilst retaining the security and
integrity of their systems.
