Dear Sir or Madam,

In a recent freedom of information request you released a document
titled: R - ICO letter to BT 25 4 08.pdf Within this document is
the following statement:

'BT took legal advice at the time of the trials. I would be
grateful if you could clarify how BT considers the clarification of
the legislation were met in the 2006 and 2007 trials, with
particular reference to provide clear and comprehensive information
about the operation of any cookies, and the requirement to obtain
consent for processing and use of traffic data.'

I would like to see the clarification and documents relating to the
legal advice sought by BT that have been disclosed to the ICO.

Yours faithfully,

Our ref: FOI/1006

Dear Mr Cooper

Request for Information

Thank you for your e-mail dated 23 July 2008, in which you have asked
for further information about the BT trials.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Therefore we will respond by 20 August 2008,
which is 20 working days from the day after we received your request.

Yours sincerely

Antonia Swann

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

Information Commissioner's Office

01625 545894

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Our ref: FOI/1006

Dear Mr Cooper

Request for Information

Further to my acknowledgement of 23 July 2008 we are now in a position
to provide you with a response to your request for information, also
dated 23 July 2008.

In your e-mail you referred to the ICO's letter to BT dated 25 April
2008, and specifically asked us to provide you with "....the
clarification and documents relating to the legal advice sought by BT
that have been disclosed to the ICO".

Following on from our response to your previous FOI request, under our
reference FOI/953, as you know we have already provided you with a copy
of BT's reply of 9 May 2008 to our initial enquiries of 25 April. It is
this letter that referred to the legal advice BT had sought at the time
of the trials, and in particular the paragraph beginning "BT and Phorm
(previously 121 Media) sought legal advice before both trials".

As you are aware we have already redacted some of the information
provided to us by BT in this letter in reliance on section 41 of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FOIA) including, amongst other
things, specific references to the nature of the legal advice sought by
BT. BT specifically stated in their letter of 9 May 2008 that this
information was being provided to us in confidence, and it is primarily
for this reason that we considered the information was exempt from
disclosure in accordance with the provisions at section 41 of the FOIA.
As this information describes the content of communications between a
client and their legal adviser this information would, in any case, be
subject to legal professional privilege, which is presumably why BT
emphasised that it was being provided to the ICO in confidence. As far
as we are concerned this position remains unchanged, and the information
we hold, and withheld previously, is still subject to a duty of
confidentiality.

I have liaised with my colleagues who were in contact with BT at the
time, and they have advised me that other than the information contained
within BT's letter of 9 May 2008 we have not been provided with a copy
of any other documentation that consists of any legal advice BT received
from their own or external solicitors about the 2006/07 trials.

In the circumstances, as you have already been provided with all the
information we hold relating to the legal advice sought by BT which you
are entitled to under the FOIA, there is no further information that we
are required to provide to you now in response to your more recent
request dated 23 July 2008.

If you are dissatisfied with the response you have received and wish to
request a review of our decision or make a complaint about how your
request has been handled you should contact the Internal Compliance Team
at [email address]

Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of
the Commissioner.

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further
right of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory
complaint handler under the legislation. To make such an application,
please write to the Senior Complaints Resolution Manager, Complaints
Resolution Team at the address below or e-mail [email address].

A copy of our review procedure is attached along with details of our
enforcement powers and your rights of appeal.

Yours sincerely

Antonia Swann

Assistant Internal Compliance Manager

Information Commissioner's Office

01625 545894

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