SIS Archive and Records Policy

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Data Protection Act 1998

SIS, like the other intelligence and security agencies, is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). Personal data are exempt from many of the operative provisions of the Act if that exemption is required for the purpose of safeguarding national security. The requirement for the application of exemptions under the DPA is considered on a case by case basis by SIS.

A leaflet (PDF format) concerning subject access requests to the intelligence and security agencies sets out your rights under the DPA and how to make a request.

Public Records Act 1958 and Implications

The Public Records Act of 1958 places a legal obligation on government bodies to transfer records to The National Archive. The intelligence and security agencies all have a blanket exemption from this obligation for reasons of national security.

The Security Service and GCHQ have placed some of their records in The National Archive. Because of the importance of protecting the identity of our sources, SIS maintains a policy of not releasing its records into the public domain. It is Service policy not to disclose the identities of individuals working for or cooperating with it. 

SIS has reviewed the records of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) of WWII prior to their transfer to The National Archive and cooperates with other departments to review and security-edit records which refer to SIS before they are placed in The National Archive.

Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Implications

SIS, like the other intelligence and security agencies and some other public authorities, is outside the scope of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Inter-departmental Advisory Group on Security and Intelligence Records

SIS is a member of this Cabinet Office-chaired group established in 2004. The other two agencies, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence, The Home Office and The National Archive, Professor Christopher Andrew (Cambridge University) and Professor Peter Hennessy (London University) are also members.

This group exists to facilitate scholarly development and use, by historians and other researchers, of security and intelligence records that are already available, and to facilitate and identify other security and intelligence records which might be publicly available. SIS is committed to working with this body within the constraints imposed by maintaining a closed archive.

As this group develops its website it will become an important internet hub for researchers of intelligence history.