An FOI email release is the version of a message thread you give a requester. FOIA 2000 s.40 exempts personal data whose disclosure would breach the data protection principles. A staff email thread often carries a second, separate issue: s.36 lets the authority withhold policy advice or discussion where a qualified person reasonably believes disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs, a call made about the content, not about the named individuals. anonym.plus marks the personal data in headers and bodies on your own device.
When this applies
A requester makes an FOI request for staff correspondence. The thread carries personal addresses, private phone numbers, and signature blocks with home details.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the mailbox export in anonym.plus on your device.
- The tool scans headers, bodies, and signature blocks.
- It flags personal addresses, phones, and contacts.
- Keep work addresses for officials in their role.
- Black out or swap the private PII, then review.
- Save the cleared thread on your machine.
What you need to provide
- The mailbox export (PST, EML, MSG, PDF, or DOCX).
- An operator: Redact for private fields.
- An allow-list for official work addresses.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Contact | EMAIL_ADDRESS | personal inbox → [EMAIL] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | private mobile → [PHONE] |
| Names | PERSON | private citizen → [PERSON] |
| Location | LOCATION | signature address → [ADDRESS] |
| Identifiers | NATIONAL_ID | employee no. → [ID] |
| Accounts | UK_BANK | account in body → [ACCOUNT] |
Compliance achieved
- Supports a withholding under FOIA 2000 s.40 (personal data).
- Leaves the separate s.36 policy-advice exemption call to a qualified person, distinct from the personal-data redaction it performs.
- Scans headers, bodies, and signatures for private PII.
- Offline work keeps the mailbox export on-site.
- Reads common message formats as well as PDFs.
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Limitations & cautions
Section 40 needs a data-protection and fairness judgment. The tool flags PII; the withholding call is yours. Section 36 needs the reasonable opinion of a qualified person on the content itself, which is a separate judgment the tool does not make. Review each thread against both rules.
Frequently asked questions
Do work addresses get withheld?
Usually not for officials in their role. Personal contacts are. Use an allow-list to keep work addresses while you redact private ones.
Can whole paragraphs be withheld, not just names?
That is a different exemption. FOIA 2000 s.36 lets an authority withhold policy advice or frank internal discussion where a qualified person reasonably believes disclosure would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs. It requires a documented opinion from that qualified person, not a PII flag, and anonym.plus does not make that call for you.
Does it read PST and EML files?
Yes. Common mailbox export formats are supported, and the tool scans the header, body, and signature block of each message for personal data.
Where is the export processed?
On your own device. The app is offline, so a sensitive mailbox never reaches a cloud service during either the personal-data or the policy-content review.