Barnet Council and the monitoring of residents.

Following the Metpro Scandal, I thought I'd ask the council what surveillance they were performing of Barnet residents. I got the following response. I suspect one or two other bloggers in Barnet may be mildly surprised to read this, or maybe they won't
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Dear Mr Tichborne,

I write with the council’s response to your request, received by us on 9 April 2011, for the following information:

“…details of Council employees or contractors working on behalf of Barnet Council employed in the following activities:-

1.          Electronic hacking activities (ie accessing the IT equipment of third parties without their permission)

2.          All council emails regarding hacking activitites, either of Barnet Council computers or of other computers where Barnet Council has been involved

3.          Any details of third party IT specialist engaged by Barnet Council who have been involved in the disruption of third party IT equipment

4.          Details of any phone tapping activities undertaken by Barnet Council

5.          Details of which Council Officers and Councillors were aware of this activity and who had access to any information derived from it.

To limit costs please limit the enquiry for the period from 1st January 2010 to present.”

We have processed this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).  Under the Act you should have received a response within 20 working days.  I apologise on behalf of the council for us not meeting this deadline.

Response

The council does not engage in any of the activities you refer to.  As such we hold no information falling within your request except in relation to a suspected attempt to hack into the council’s systems in 2010.  In relation to this incident we hold one email.

We cannot disclose the contents of this email as it contains detailed information about the council’s information security systems, and publishing this information would put us at risk of similar future attacks.  We are therefore withholding this information under section 43 FOIA, which applies to information the disclosure of which would be likely to damage the council’s commercial interests.  In our view the public interest in withholding this information (and consequently in protecting our information systems from external attacks) outweighs the general public interest in disclosure.  We hold no other information falling within your request.

Your rights

If you are unhappy with the handling of your request you can ask for an internal review.  Please send such requests to our postal address or to foi@barnet.gov.uk and address them to the “FOI Officer”.  Please also explain why you feel we have not correctly processed your request. You have 40 working days to request a review. 

If, having exhausted our review procedure, you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request or complaint, you will have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF (telephone: 08456 306060 or 01625 545745; website www.ico.gov.uk).  There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Niall Toru
Governance Officer

Corporate Governance Directorate
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 7080
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk
P please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?

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From: Toru, Niall On Behalf Of Freedom of Information Act
Sent: 11 April 2011 18:06
To: 'Roger.Tichborne@btinternet.com'
Subject: RE: FOI - request

Dear Mr Tichborne,

Thank you for your request, received by us on 9 April 2011, for:

“details of Council employees or contractors working on behalf of Barnet Council employed in the following activities:-

1) Electronic hacking activities (ie accessing the IT equipment of third parties without their permission)

2) All council emails regarding hacking activitites, either of Barnet Council computers or of other computers where Barnet Council has been involved

3) Any details of third party IT specialist engaged by Barnet Council who have been involved in the disruption of third party IT equipment

4) Details of any phone tapping activities undertaken by Barnet Council

5) Details of which Council Officers and Councillors were aware of this activity and who had access to any information derived from it.

To limit costs please limit the enquiry for the period from 1st January 2010 to present.”

We are processing this request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Under the Act we must respond promptly and in any event within 20 working days from the date we received your request.

Please note the Act defines a limited set of exemptions from the right to know.  If we decide not to release any information we shall explain why, which exemption we are relying on and how you can appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Niall Toru
Governance Officer

Corporate Governance Directorate
London Borough of Barnet, North London Business Park, Oakleigh Road South, London N11 1NP
Tel: 020 8359 7080
Barnet Online: www.barnet.gov.uk
P please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?

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From: Roger Tichborne

Sent: 09 April 2011 11:38
To: Freedom of Information Act
Cc: Burgess, John (Unison); vickimorris@btinternet.com; Adam Langleben; Hillan, Cllr Lynne Conservative; Moore, Cllr Alison Labour; Cohen, Cllr Jack Liberal Democrat; Walkley, Nick; Harper, Cllr Andrew Conservative
Subject: Re: FOI - request

Dated 9th April 2011

Dear Barnet Council,

Please provide all details of Council employees or contractors working on behalf of Barnet Council employed in the following activities :-

1) Electronic hacking activities (ie accessing the IT equipment of third parties without their permission)

2) All council emails regarding hacking activitites, either of Barnet Council computers or of other computers where Barnet Council has been involved

3) Any details of third party IT specialist engaged by Barnet Council who have been involved in the disruption of third party IT equipment

4) Details of any phone tapping activities undertaken by Barnet Council

5) Details of which Council Officers and Councillors were aware of this activity and who had access to any information derived from it.

To limit costs please limit the enquiry for the period from 1st January 2010 to present.

Regards

Roger Tichborne