Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) – Section 77 – Offence of altering etc. records with intent to prevent disclosure.

Sections

Section 77Offence of altering etc. records with intent to prevent disclosure.

(1) Where—

(a)
a request for information has been made to a public authority, and
(b)
under section 1 of this Act ^F1... the applicant would have been entitled (subject to payment of any fee) to communication of any information in accordance with that section,

any person to whom this subsection applies is guilty of an offence if he alters, defaces, blocks, erases, destroys or conceals any record held by the public authority, with the intention of preventing the disclosure by that authority of all, or any part, of the information to the communication of which the applicant would have been entitled.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to the public authority and to any person who is employed by, is an officer of, or is subject to the direction of, the public authority.

(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

(4) No proceedings for an offence under this section shall be instituted—

(a)
in England or Wales, except by the [^F2Commission] or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions;
(b)
in Northern Ireland, except by the [^F2Commission] or by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland.

Amended text

This Section is shown as amended by Data Protection Act 2018; S.I. 2026/386 (see the annotations below), as incorporated in the text in force on 7 October 2026 as published on legislation.gov.uk.

Annotations

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 77(1)(b) omitted (25.5.2018) by virtue of Data Protection Act 2018 (c. 12), s. 212(1), Sch. 19 para. 63 (with ss. 117, 209, 210, Sch. 20 para. 55); S.I. 2018/625, reg. 2(1)(g)
F2 Word in s. 77(4) substituted (30.9.2026) by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/386), reg. 1(2), Sch. 2 para. 12(23); S.I. 2026/1015, reg. 2(c)

Commencement Information

I1 S. 77 wholly in force at 1.1.2005; s. 77 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 87(3); s. 77 in force for certain purposes at 1.1.2005 by S.I. 2002/1909, art. 2 and otherwise in force at 1.1.2005 by S.I. 2004/3122, art. 2

https://foia.digiphile.law/article/article-77.html

Text as at 7 October 2026.

This is an unofficial convenience version of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It is presented “as is” without guarantee of accuracy, completeness or reliability. See the source text for the official version. This site was last updated in October 2026.