In Jan 2023 a Judge ruled that most Bounce Back Loan recipients cannot be named publicly by the Government for having a BBL, those found guilty of doing something dodgy can be, obviously.
The reason for that is to stop you being a victim of fraudsters and possibly vigilante action for having a Gov backed loan, which sadly the Princess of Wales parents were subjected to such vigilante action, as they had a huge unpaid CBILs not a BBL and they can be named, as they got a CBILs and not a BBL.
However, if you are in that protected class of BBL’er and you put in for example a BBL related Freedom of Information Request, then your request and reply with your name splattered all over it will be published and made public.
Therefore, despite being protected you are now not protected, simply for putting in an FOI and fraudsters or even brick wielding nutters could target you.
It took me a minute to work out from a published FOI the name of one person’s business, which bank gave them a BBL how much, when, how they distributed it and a lot of other supposed protected information.
So be careful if you do happen to put in such a request, it’s a good way for the Gov to ensure no one or very few people puts in FOI’s I imagine.
Responses
I asked the following Departments why they do that, here are their responses so far:
information Commissioners Office – Refuse to answer their phone
Update:
They have apologised for not answering their phone and have now made contact stating:
“On background, it is best practice for public authorities to disclose responses to requests, particularly those that may be of public interest.
When publishing information in the public domain in the context of an FOIA request, a public authority is not required or expected to include the requestor’s name.
Furthermore, a public authority should check to ensure that no details of the requestor are published if to do so would constitute a breach of data protection or if there is another legitimate reason(s) not to do so.”
Looks like I was right, that data should not be out there and is putting Bounce Back Loan recipients in grave danger, I will contact the Judge who said don’t name them, and see what she has to say.
Department for Business and Trade – Gone all bashful and shy
British Business Bank – Looking into it.
Update:
A Spokesman for the British Business Bank Said
“Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
While this represents a low risk in terms of data protection, we do take our responsibilities seriously, so we have been in touch with our Data Protection Officer, who is reviewing the matter.”