Part VII Miscellaneous and Supplemental
Supplemental
101 General restrictions on disclosure of information.
1
Subject to the following provisions of this section, no information with respect to any particular business which—
a
has been obtained under or by virtue of the provisions of this Act; and
b
relates to the private affairs of any individual or to any particular business,
shall during the lifetime of that individual or so long as that business continues to be carried on, be disclosed without the consent of that individual or the person for the time being carrying on that business.
2
Subsection (1) above does not apply to any disclosure of information which is made—
a
for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions assigned or transferred to the Secretary of State, the Director or the Commission by or under this Act;
b
for the purpose of facilitating the performance of any functions of any Minister, any Northern Ireland department, the head of any such department, the Director General of Fair Trading F1, the CommissionF2;the Director General of Water ServicesF3the Director General of Electricity SupplyF4the Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern IrelandF5or the Director General of Gas for Northern IrelandF6the Rail Regulator or a local weights and measures authority in Great Britain under any of the enactments F7or subordinate legislation specified in subsection (3) below;
F8(bb) for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by the Comptroller and Auditor General of any of his functions under any enactment;
c
in connection with the investigation of any criminal offence or for the purposes of any criminal proceedings;
d
for the purpose of any civil proceedings brought under or by virtue of this Act or any of the enactments F7or subordinate legislation specified in subsection (3) below; or
e
in pursuance of a Community obligation.
3
The enactments F9and subordinate legislation referred to in subsection (2) above are—
a
the Trade Descriptions Act 1968;
b
the 1973 Act;
c
the Consumer Credit Act 1974;
d
the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976;
e
the Resale Prices Act 1976;
f
the Estate Agents Act 1979; F10
g
the 1980 Act.
F11h
the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
F12i
the Consumer Protection (Northern Ireland) Order 1987.
F13i
the Control of Misleading Advertisements Regulations 1988
F14j
the Water Act 1989.
F15k
the Electricity Act 1989.
F16l
the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992.
F1711
The Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996;
F19n
the Competition Act 1998
4
Nothing in subsection (1) above shall be construed—
a
as limiting the matters which may be published under section [F2027C or] 48 above or may be included in, or made public as part of, a report of the Director or of the Commission under this Act; or
b
as applying to any information which has been so published or has been made public as part of such a report.
5
Any person who discloses any information in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable—
a
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum;
b
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.