The Campaign for the Freedom of Information says that the ICO has refused to reveal the names of public authorities it had targeted before the Coronavirus pandemic because of their poor compliance with FOI time limits. The Campaign says that this goes against the ICO’s previous policy.

In response to an FOI request, the ICO said that revealing the names of public authorities it had worked with could prejudice its ability to “constructively engage” with them and “jeopardise the ICO’s ability to obtain information” from them.

Some of the underperforming public authorities identified in the past include the Metropolitan Police, the Home Office and Department for Education.