1 Unlawful disclosure of information.
In section 8 of the M1Census Act 1920 (penalties), the following subsections shall be substituted for subsection (2)—
2
If the Registrar-General for England and Wales or the Registrar-General for Scotland (“the Registrars”) or any person who is—
a
under the control of either of the Registrars; or
b
a supplier of any services to either of them,
discloses any personal census information to another person, without lawful authority, he shall be guilty of an offence.
3
If any person discloses to another person any personal census information which he knows has been disclosed in contravention of this Act, he shall be guilty of an offence.
4
It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (2) or (3) to prove—
a
that at the time of the alleged offence he believed—
i
that he was acting with lawful authority; or
ii
that the information in question was not personal census information; and
b
that he had no reasonable cause to believe otherwise.
5
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2) or (3) shall be liable—
a
on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both;
b
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine or to both.
6
For the purposes of this section—
a
references to a Registrar include, where he is also the holder of a designated office, references to him in his capacity as the holder of that office;
b
a person is to be treated as under the control of one of the Registrars if he is, or has been—
i
employed by that Registrar (whether or not on a full-time basis); or
ii
otherwise employed, or acting, (whether or not on a full-time basis) as part of that Registrar’s staff for purposes of this Act;
c
a person is to be treated as a supplier of services to a Registrar if he—
i
supplies, or has supplied, any services to that Registrar in connection with the discharge by that Registrar of any of his functions; or
ii
is, or has been, employed by such a supplier.
7
In this section—
“census information” means any information which is—
- i
acquired by any person mentioned in subsection (2) above in the course of any work done by him in connection with the discharge of functions under section 2 or 4 of this Act;
- ii
acquired by any such person in the course of working, for purposes of section 5 of this Act, with any information acquired as mentioned in sub-paragraph (i) above; or
- iii
derived from any information so acquired;
“designated office”, in relation to a Registrar, means any office for the time being designated by him in writing for the purposes of this section; and
“personal census information” means any census information which relates to an identifiable person or household.
2 Power to make corresponding provision for Northern Ireland.
An Order in Council under paragraph 1(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to the M2Northern Ireland Act 1974 (legislation for Northern Ireland in the interim period) which states that it is made only for purposes corresponding to section 1—
a
shall not be subject to paragraph 1(4) and (5) of that Schedule (affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament), but
b
shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House.
3 Short title and extent.
1
This Act may be cited as the Census (Confidentiality) Act 1991.
2
This Act, other than section 2 (which extends only to Northern Ireland), does not extend to Northern Ireland.