Information Relevant to Public Health, Safety or the Environment

The laws of several countries provide, or have been interpreted by courts and/or information commission/ers to provide, that the strong public interest in protecting public health, safety, and the environment or the need to avert imminent harm to persons may outweigh business interests in confidentiality. Several cases are summarized – from Canada, Japan, Scotland, South Africa – in the section on Exceptions: Commercial Secrets: Information Relevant to Public Health, Safety, or the Environment. [not yet posted] See also Scotland: patient privacy and statistical information, under section on Exceptions: Privacy.[1]