(1)Section 23 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 (disclosure of information) is amended as follows.
(2)In subsection (1) for “subsection (4)” substitute “ subsections (4) and (4A) ”.
(3)After subsection (4) insert—
“(4A)Nothing in subsection (1) above prohibits the disclosure of medical information provided to the CAA in accordance with an Air Navigation Order if—
(a)the disclosure is for the purposes of medical research approved by a research ethics committee,
(b)the CAA considers that the research is likely to improve understanding of risks to the health of the types of individual who are required by an Air Navigation Order to provide medical information to the CAA,
(c)the CAA considers that it would be difficult or expensive to take the steps necessary to enable all of the information to be disclosed in reliance on subsection (1), and
(d)the information disclosed is anonymised.
(4B)For the purposes of subsection (4A)(d), information is anonymised if no individual can be identified—
(a)from that information, or
(b)from that information and any other information which the CAA has reasonable grounds for believing is likely to be in the possession of the person to whom it is disclosed or is likely to come into that person's possession.”
(4)After subsection (6) insert—
“(7)In this section “research ethics committee” means a committee which is—
(a)established to advise on the ethics of research investigations in human beings, and
(b)recognised for that purpose by the Secretary of State, the Welsh Ministers, the Scottish Ministers or the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland or by a body comprising two or more of those persons.”