Censorship

Dear Mr Morris,

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 5th
September, 2009 and is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. We are therefore required to provide you with a response
within 20 working days, which will be on or before 2nd October, 2009.

If we require any clarification or further details, we will contact you
as soon as possible.

In the meantime, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to
contact me, remembering to quote the reference number above in any
communications.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

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Dear Mr Morris,

I refer to your request for information, which was received on 5th
September, 2009.

You asked whether the Council censors any political parties.

Whilst not strictly speaking a request which falls within the scope of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (as you are not requesting any
recorded information) I can respond by confirming that the Council does
not censor any political parties.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact
me.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

Mae’r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi’u bwriadu at ddefnydd yr unigolyn y’u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unigOs derbyniwch y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i’r sawl a’i hanfonodd ar unwaith, dilëwch y neges o’ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i unrhyw un arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys.

Os derbyniwch y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i’r sawl a’i hanfonodd ar unwaith, dilëwch y neges o’ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i unrhyw un arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys.

Eiddo’r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwynt a fynegir, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor.

Dylech wirio am firysau eich hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw atebolrwydd am golled neu niwed a all fod wedi’i achosi gan firysau meddalwedd neu trwy ryng-gipio’r neges hon neu ymyrryd â hi

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed.
If received in error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer and destroy any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed to any other person, nor the contents acted upon.

Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Council.

You should carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of this mail.

Dear Mr Morris,

Thank you for your email. I will provide a further response as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

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Dear Mr Morris,

I refer to your enquiry regarding access to British political parties' websites.

In response, the filtering software used by the Council does not prevent access to any websites because they belong to political parties.

However, should any content be placed on a site which is, for example, of an offensive or obscene nature, the software could pick this up and block access to the site.

I can also advise that some Council telephones have voice mail.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

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Dear Mr Morris,

I refer to your e-mail to Mr Tillman on 15th September (15.42)regarding
internet access to political party websites via the computers that are
available for public use in the Council's libraries, and to your further
e-mail to Mr Tillman dated 26th September (09.41).

Whilst the Council is of course happy to correspond with you on these
issues, I have to say that your enquiry is not really a freedom of
information request (which only relates to requests for recorded
information)and therfore I would not be treating your latest e-mail as
an appeal under those provisions.

You say that you have some evidence to suggest that the Council is
blocking access to political party websites on its library computers. If
you could therefore provide me with that evidence I will certianly
consider the issue further.

Yours sincerely,

Lyn Thomas.

Pennaeth Gweinyddiaeth a'r Gyfraith
Head of Administration and Law
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin
Carmarthenshire County Council
01267 224012.

Mae’r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi’u bwriadu at ddefnydd yr unigolyn y’u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Mae’n bosib bod yr e-bost hefyd yn cynnwys gwybodaeth gyfreithiol freintiedig.

Os derbyniwch y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i’r sawl a’i hanfonodd ar unwaith, dilëwch y neges o’ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gopïau papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i unrhyw un arall, na gweithredu ar sail y cynnwys.

Eiddo’r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwynt a fynegir, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor.

Dylech wirio am firysau eich hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw atebolrwydd am golled neu niwed a all fod wedi’i achosi gan firysau meddalwedd neu trwy ryng-gipio’r neges hon neu ymyrryd â hi.

Ni fydd y Cyngor yn derbyn dogfennau a gyflwynir yn y cyfeiriad e-bost hwn at ddibenion cyfreithiol, oni chytunir ar hynny yn ysgrifenedig ymlaen llaw gyda’r sawl sy’n eu hanfon.

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. This e-mail may also contain legally privileged information.

If received in error please notify the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer and destroy any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed to any other person, nor the contents acted upon.

Any views or opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Council.

You should carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. We accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software viruses or interception/interruption of this mail.

The Council will not accept service of documents at this e-mail address for legal purposes, unless agreed in advance in writing with the sender.

Dear Mr Morris,

In your e-mail dated 5th September 2009 you asked, "Does Carmarthenshire County Council censor any political parties?" I believe that this wording amounts to a question, rather than a request for recorded information. Accordingly, we have dealt with the matter to date outside the parameters of the Freedom of Information Act, and we have told you that we do not exercise any such censorship, nor do we hold any information on the subject.

However, if you feel that the Council has withheld any recorded information, necessitating an internal review, please could you specify what you consider that recorded information is. On the other hand, if you would like a discussion with someone in IT to clarify how our software works, etc then perhaps you could contact Mr Idris Evans on 01267 246326.

Yours sincerely

Lyn Thomas

Pennaeth Gweinyddiaeth a'r Gyfraith
Head of Administration and Law
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin
Carmarthenshire County Council
01267 224012.

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Dear Mr Morris,

Thank you for your e-mail dated 12th November.

As I have said before, it is impossible for me to conduct an internal
review under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in the absence of a
request for recorded information, as in this case.

Yours sincerely,

Lyn Thomas.

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Dear Mr Morris,

I refer to your email of 18th November, 2009 addressed to Mr Lyn Thomas.

We are dealing with the question included in your message as a new
request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

You asked whether the Council is putting any blocking type software on
its library internet machines to prevent access to British political
parties and their websites.

Your request was received on 18th November, 2009 therefore we are
required to provide you with a response within 20 working days, which
will be on or before 16th December, 2009.

In the meantime, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to
contact me, remembering to quote the reference number above in any
communications.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Morris,

I refer to your request for information regarding blocking software, which was received on 18th November, 2009 and has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The specific information you requested was as follows:

Whether the Council is putting any blocking type software on library internet machines to prevent access to British political parties & their websites.

In response, the Council does utilise software called Websense to filter web content. However, as I have advised you previously, provided any website is correctly categorised by Websense, (i.e. a political party's website is identified as such) then the system is setup to allow access. In other words, the system is not set up to prevent access to any political parties.

However, there may be cases where such as site is blocked where Websense detects malicious software on a site or finds inappropriate content. I would add that the Council has not set up this software to do this.

If you are aware of an instance where a political party's website has been blocked, please provide the name of the library where this took place, the date and which website was blocked. This will enable us to search our records and probably identify the incident.

The only other way of establishing whether a political party's website has been blocked would be to check the hundreds of thousands of records. Under Section 12 of the Act, a public authority is not obliged to comply with a request if it considers that to do so would exceed the appropriate limit. This limit is defined in The Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 as £450, which equates to 18 hours of work at the standard rate specified in the Regulations of £25.00 per hour. This would be the case here.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

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Dear Mr Morris,

Thank you for your email. However, I do not feel that there is anything further I can add on this matter.

Perhaps if you were to provide your telephone number, I could arrange for an officer from our IT division to contact you to discuss any issues or concerns you have?

Also, if you are unhappy with the way in which I have dealt with your request, your initial right to appeal is as follows:

The Head of Administration & Law
Carmarthenshire County Council
County Hall
Carmarthen
SA31 1JP

Email: [email address]

If you remain unhappy with any subsequent decision, you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner to rule on your complaint. You may write to him at:

Information Commissioner
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Tel: (01267) 246108
Mewnol/Internal: 6108
Ffacs/Fax: (01267) 246134

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Dear Mr Morris

I write to acknowledge receipt of your appeal.

Mr Lyn Thomas will now review our initial decision

We anticipate that the review will be completed on or before 14.10.10.

Your sincerely

Phil Grafton

Mae*r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi*u bwriadu at
ddefnydd yr unigolyn y*u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Mae*n bosib bod yr
e-bost hefyd yn cynnwys gwybodaeth gyfreithiol freintiedig. Os derbyniwch
y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i*r sawl a*i hanfonodd ar
unwaith, dil*wch y neges o*ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gop*au
papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i unrhyw un arall, na gweithredu
ar sail y cynnwys. Eiddo*r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwynt a fynegir, ac
nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor. Dylech wirio am
firysau eich hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw
atebolrwydd am golled neu niwed a all fod wedi*i achosi gan firysau
meddalwedd neu trwy ryng-gipio*r neges hon neu ymyrryd * hi. Ni fydd y
Cyngor yn derbyn dogfennau a gyflwynir yn y cyfeiriad e-bost hwn at
ddibenion cyfreithiol, oni chytunir ar hynny yn ysgrifenedig ymlaen llaw
gyda*r sawl sy*n eu hanfon.

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for
the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. This e-mail may also
contain legally privileged information. If received in error please notify
the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer and destroy
any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed to any other person,
nor the contents acted upon. Any views or opinions expressed are those of
the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Council. You
should carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. We
accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software
viruses or interception/interruption of this mail. The Council will not
accept service of documents at this e-mail address for legal purposes,
unless agreed in advance in writing with the sender.

Dear Mr Morris

Further to my e-mail dated 14.12.09, I just wish to clarify that our
response should be with you by 14.01.10.

Yours sincerely

Phil Grafton

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Dear Mr Morris

I enclose Mr Thomas' decision in this matter:-

<<decision notice Morris.doc>> <<Morris Appendix.doc>>
Yours sincerely

Phil Grafton

Mae*r e-bost hwn ac unrhyw atodiadau yn gyfrinachol ac wedi*u bwriadu at
ddefnydd yr unigolyn y*u cyfeiriwyd ato/ati yn unig. Mae*n bosib bod yr
e-bost hefyd yn cynnwys gwybodaeth gyfreithiol freintiedig. Os derbyniwch
y neges hon trwy gamgymeriad, rhowch wybod i*r sawl a*i hanfonodd ar
unwaith, dil*wch y neges o*ch cyfrifiadur a dinistriwch unrhyw gop*au
papur ohoni. Ni ddylech ddangos yr e-bost i unrhyw un arall, na gweithredu
ar sail y cynnwys. Eiddo*r awdur yw unrhyw farn neu safbwynt a fynegir, ac
nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwynt y Cyngor. Dylech wirio am
firysau eich hunan cyn agor unrhyw atodiad. Nid ydym yn derbyn unrhyw
atebolrwydd am golled neu niwed a all fod wedi*i achosi gan firysau
meddalwedd neu trwy ryng-gipio*r neges hon neu ymyrryd * hi. Ni fydd y
Cyngor yn derbyn dogfennau a gyflwynir yn y cyfeiriad e-bost hwn at
ddibenion cyfreithiol, oni chytunir ar hynny yn ysgrifenedig ymlaen llaw
gyda*r sawl sy*n eu hanfon.

This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended solely for
the use of the individual to whom it is addressed. This e-mail may also
contain legally privileged information. If received in error please notify
the sender immediately, delete the message from your computer and destroy
any hard copies. The e-mail should not be disclosed to any other person,
nor the contents acted upon. Any views or opinions expressed are those of
the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Council. You
should carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. We
accept no liability for any loss or damage which may be caused by software
viruses or interception/interruption of this mail. The Council will not
accept service of documents at this e-mail address for legal purposes,
unless agreed in advance in writing with the sender.