Knowledge base
We have published our internal freedom of information and environmental information knowledge base (ICO intranet site), which gives the ICO’s position on many of the issues we deal with.
We have made this internal ICO resource available while we continue to improve our range of guidance. In the meantime, we hope that those in need of a more in-depth understanding of freedom of information and environmental information issues will find this a useful resource. The knowledge base covers issues that have arisen from the cases we deal with and from appeals to the Information Rights Tribunal.
Please use the information together with ICO guidance where it is available.
While we have tried to make this as useable as possible, some links and other aspects may not work because we have transferred the information from a separate intranet site.
View the ICO knowledge base
Sample questions we ask public authorities
We have published the standardised sample copy that our case officers use when writing to public authorities, including introductory information about the exemptions and key questions we may need to ask. The questions are not exhaustive and case officers tailor their correspondence in each case.
We have made this internal ICO resource available to help with transparency around freedom of information requests and how we approach casework. It may help public authorities to consider these questions, when deciding if relevant exemptions apply.
View sample questions for public authorities – freedom of information