Prevent and Internet filtering policies

The request was partially successful.

Open Rights Group

Dear University of Manchester,

Can you please supply:

(1) your policy or policy guidance for duties under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 duties for the various local authorities listed in Schedule 6, known as “Prevent”;

(2) your policy relating to Internet filtering, blocking and prevention of access to material deemed inappropriate;

(3) the name of any providers of Internet filtering and blocking services that you use, or else a statement that you do not block or filter content at all;

(4) a list of agreements, arrangements or Memorandums of Understanding between yourselves and bodies such as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), or Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) of the City of London Police, to receive lists of illegal or illicit content, for instance for the purposes of blocking.

Finally, can you:

(5) tell me if any filtering or blocking service that you use incorporates lists from the IWF, CTIRU or PIPCU, and which lists are incorporated; and

(6) provide to me any clauses within any contract or terms and conditions of service agreed with your filtering and blocking providers that relate to their use of information from the IWF, CTIRU or PIPCU.

Yours faithfully,

Jim Killock

Lisa Crawley, University of Manchester

Dear Mr Killock

 

Thank you for your email requesting data relating to Prevent and internet
filtering policies at The University of Manchester.

 

I will today forward details of your request to the relevant department
within the University and will contact you again once I have received a
response.

 

With best regards

 

Lisa Crawley

 

Dr Lisa Crawley l  Records Officer  l Room 1.028, John Owens Building 
l Compliance & Risk Management Office l  The University of Manchester  l 
Oxford Road  l  Manchester  l  M13 9PL  l  Tel +44 (0)161 275 8400  

 

Open Rights Group

Dear Lisa Crawley,

Did you hear back from your departments?

Also, if it helps, we are only interested in content filtering and blocking, not security measures, in relation to question 3.

Yours sincerely,

Jim

Lisa Crawley, University of Manchester

Dear Mr Killock

 

Thank you for your email requesting data relating to Prevent and Internet
filtering policy at The University of Manchester. Please see below our
response to questions 1 and 2, 4, 5 and 6. Question 3 is being refused as
the University believes that Section 31 – the exemption which relates to
Law enforcement applies. Please see the formal refusal notice below:

 

(1) your policy or policy guidance for duties under the Counter-Terrorism
and Security Act 2015 duties for the various local authorities listed in
Schedule 6, known as “Prevent”;

 

There is no “Prevent Policy”.

 

(2) your policy relating to Internet filtering, blocking and prevention of
access to material deemed inappropriate;

 

The Acceptable Use Policy for staff and students:
[1]http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuIn...

 

(4) a list of agreements, arrangements or Memorandums of Understanding
between yourselves and bodies such as the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF),
the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) of the Metropolitan
Police Service (MPS), or Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU)
of the City of London Police, to receive lists of illegal or illicit
content, for instance for the purposes of blocking.

 

Not applicable

 

(5) tell me if any filtering or blocking service that you use incorporates
lists from the IWF, CTIRU or PIPCU, and which lists are incorporated; and

 

Not applicable

 

(6) provide to me any clauses within any contract or terms and conditions
of service agreed with your filtering and blocking providers that relate
to their use of information from the IWF, CTIRU or PIPCU.

 

Not applicable

 

Refusal Notice

 

This Refusal Notice has been issued under Section 17 of the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) in respect of your request for information under
Section 1 (1) of the FOIA.  The University of Manchester confirms that the
information requested is held but we are refusing to provide it for the
reasons set out below. 

 

Details of your request

 

(3) the name of any providers of Internet filtering and blocking services
that you use, or else a statement that you do not block or filter content
at all;

 

Section 31 (Law Enforcement) of the Freedom of Information Act states
that:

 

1              Information which is not exempt information by virtue of
section 30 is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would,
or would be likely to, prejudice— .

(a)    the prevention or detection of crime,

Reasons for our refusal

 

The University of Manchester believes that the release of the requested
data would prejudice the prevention or detection of crime. The provision
of internet filtering and blocking services could identify the firewall
infrastructure and services we use and the categories of traffic we could
monitor and choose to block or not the release of which could potentially
allow individuals to attempt to bypass our security systems.

 

Public Interest Test

 

As, Section 31 is a qualified exemption it requires a public interest test
to determine if the security interest is over ridden by the public
interest for the release of the information concerned.

 

Whilst disclosure of the requested information may be in the public
interest i.e., in terms of transparency, release would also provide a
possible security risk for the reason given above.

 

The University of Manchester therefore believes that disclosing the
requested data would hamper law enforcement and that the balance test lies
in the non-disclosure of the data.   

The University of Manchester Freedom of Information Act appeals procedure 

If you feel that The University of Manchester has refused access to
information to which you are entitled, or has not dealt with your request
appropriately under the FOIA, you have a right of appeal. 

An appeal in the first instance should be directed to the Records
Management Office, contact details below. You should include: 

o a covering letter giving details of your complaint
o details of your initial request
o any other relevant information

The University will deal with your appeal within a reasonable time, and
will inform you of the projected time scale on receipt of your complaint.
 

You are also welcome to contact the Records Management Office with
informal questions about the handling of your request. 

After The University’s internal appeals procedure has been exhausted, you
have a further right of appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office. 

Details of this procedure can be found at:  

[2]www.ico.org.uk

 

I trust this concludes your request.

 

With best regards

 

Lisa Crawley

 

 

Dr Lisa Crawley l  Records Officer  l Room 1.028, John Owens Building 
l Compliance & Risk Management Office l  The University of Manchester  l 
Oxford Road  l  Manchester  l  M13 9PL  l  Tel +44 (0)161 275 8400  

 

References

Visible links
1. http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuIn...
2. http://www.ico.org.uk/