Information Access Team
Communications Directorate
Abdul Hai
T 020 3461 4878
Via email: request-1095504-
F 020 3461 5460
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx
18 March 2024
Please quote ref. CAS-004328
on all correspondence
Dear Abdul Hai
Thank you for your email of 2 March to the Bank of England (the Bank), in which you ask
for access to the following information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA):
‘What is your policy in regards to retaining and deleting of messages using the
WhatsApp platform?
Do officers dealing with FOI and GDPR have access to those messages if so can
you provide a copy of the policy?
Can you give me a copy of the last review of this policy?’
The Bank sets out its principles of staff conduct and key pol
icies in Our Code,
which is available to view on the Bank’s website. In the section on social media
under ‘Being open and accountable’ it says:
‘Do not conduct Bank business through your personal social media
accounts or their associated communication services (eg WhatsApp,
Facebook Messenger and FaceTime).’
Given that the Bank’s policy is not to conduct business through WhatsApp, we do
not hold any information in scope of your request.
I hope you have found this response helpful.
Yours sincerely
P.A.Gibbons
Information Access Team
Bank of England | Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH
+44 (0)20 3461 4444
| www.bankofengland.co.uk
2
Your right to complain under FOIA
If you are unhappy with our decision, you can request an internal review. To do so, please email your
concern
s to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx or post to Bank of England, Threadneedle Street,
London EC2R 8AH within two months of the date of this response.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have a right of appeal to the Information
Commissioner. You can submit complaints to the Information Commissioner via their website
at FOI and
EIR complaints | ICO
Privacy notice
When you contact the Bank, we collect certain information about you in order to satisfy our legal obligation
to respond to your FOIA request. For full details on what we collect and how we process that information
in relation to your request, please see the FOIA privacy notice here:
Freedom of Information | Bank of
England. For more information about how the Bank handles personal data as the UK’s central Bank, please see our
privacy page her
e: Privacy and the Bank of England | Bank of England.