The ICO has been busy this week, also updating some guidance on how and when to redact information when responding to a Data Subject Access Request. Their updated guidance can be found at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/sme-web-hub/frequently-asked-questions/right-of-accesssubject-access-requests-and-other-rights/#howshould, and perhaps this has been prompted by seeing the excellent film ‘Hidden Figures’.
Hidden Figures is based on the true life story of women who were the first ‘computors’ for John Glenn’s Mercury Seven space flight in 1962. At one point, one of the women is accused of acting as a spy, and challenged on how she accessed redacted information. She simply took the computer printout paper (complete with green stripes) and help it to the light, suggesting they should use a better black pen to redact information that really was secret.
You need to be clear on what information you can, and must, redact when responding to a DSAR, so if we can help please get in touch.