Part 3Regulation of postal services

General provisions

I156General restriction on disclosure of information

1

Information that—

a

is obtained as a result of this Part, and

b

relates to the affairs of an individual or to a particular business,

must not be disclosed during the lifetime of the individual or so long as the business is carried on, except as provided by this section.

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Disclosure is permitted—

a

with the consent of the individual or the person for the time being carrying on the business,

b

for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by OFCOM of any of their functions,

c

for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by the Secretary of State, the Treasury or the Competition Commission of any of their functions under this Act,

d

for the purpose of facilitating the carrying out by a prescribed body or other person of any functions under a prescribed enactment,

e

in connection with the investigation of any criminal offence or for the purposes of any criminal proceedings,

f

for the purposes of any civil proceedings brought as a result of this Part or any prescribed enactment,

g

in pursuance of an EU obligation, or

h

in any other prescribed circumstances or for any other prescribed purpose.

3

In subsection (2) “prescribed” means prescribed by an order of the Secretary of State.

4

An order under subsection (3) is subject to affirmative resolution procedure.

5

This section does not apply to information that has been made available to the public by being disclosed in circumstances in which, or for a purpose for which, disclosure is not precluded by this section.

6

This section also does not apply to information that is subject to the disclosure regime in Part 9 of the Enterprise Act 2002 as a result of—

a

section 393(8) of the Communications Act 2003 (information obtained by OFCOM in exercise of competition functions), or

b

section 29(3) of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 (information obtained by the National Consumer Council).

7

A person who discloses information in contravention of this section commits an offence.

8

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

a

on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or

b

on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both.