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—

  1. 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;

  2. 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

  3. 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.