ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY ACT (SHOWING AMENDMENTS MADE BY ACT 5/2003) 24 Protection of information relating to business interests of a third party (1) The head of a public body may refuse to disclose to an applicant information that will reveal the trade secrets or commercial, financial or employment, scientific or technical information of a third party that was supplied, implicitly or explicitly, in confidence to the public body, and the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to— (a) significantly harm the competitive position or interfere with the negotiating position of the third party; or (b) result in similar information being no longer provided to the public body when it is in the public interest that such information continues to be so provided; or (c) result in undue financial loss or gain to any person or organisation; or (d) reveal information supplied to an arbitrator, mediator, labour officer or other person or body appointed to resolve or inquire into a labour relations dispute; or (e) reveal information that will harm the economic interests of the State. (2) The head of a public body shall not disclose to an applicant information contained in a tax return form or gathered for the purpose of determining a person’s tax liability or collecting outstanding tax. (3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply where— (a) the third party consents to the disclosure; or (b) the information is contained in a record that is in the custody or control of the National Archives; or (c) the information is contained in a record that is in the archives of a public body and has been in existence for thirty or more years. 25 Protection of information relating to personal privacy (1) The head of a public body shall not disclose personal information to an applicant if the disclosure will result in the unreasonable invasion of a third party’s personal privacy. (2) In determining whether or not a disclosure of personal information constitutes an unreasonable invasion of a third party’s personal privacy, the head of a public body shall consider all the relevant circumstances, including whether— (a) the disclosure is desirable or necessary for the purpose of subjecting the activities of the government or a public body to public scrutiny; (b) the disclosure is likely to promote public health and safety or the protection of the environment; (c) the personal information is relevant to a fair determination of the applicant’s rights; (d) the disclosure will assist in researching or validating the claims, disputes or grievances of indigenous people; (e) the third party will be exposed unfairly to financial or other harm; (f) subject to subsection (5), the personal information has been supplied in confidence by the third party about himself or herself, or by the third party about another person; 16 16 Paragraph substituted by s. 4 of Act 5/2003. 16