Request ID: FOI-1324-2425 Date published: 08 August 2024
You asked
I am submitting a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Specifically, I would like to obtain a copy of the policy or procedure that governs the use of WhatsApp for official communications within TFL or London Underground. This request includes any guidelines, directives, or protocols that address how WhatsApp messages are managed, stored, and retrieved in compliance with FOI requests and Subject Access Requests under GDPR. Additionally, I would like to know whether WhatsApp is used for official business communications within TFL / London Underground. Please provide any relevant documents or information pertaining to these procedures and the extent of WhatsApp usage for official purposes.
We answered
TfL Ref: 1324-2425
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 25 July 2024 asking for information about the use of Whatsapp.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You specifically asked: I am submitting a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Specifically, I would like to obtain a copy of the policy or procedure that governs the use of WhatsApp for official communications within TFL or London Underground. This request includes any guidelines, directives, or protocols that address how WhatsApp messages are managed, stored, and retrieved in compliance with FOI requests and Subject Access Requests under GDPR. Additionally, I would like to know whether WhatsApp is used for official business communications within TFL / London Underground. Please provide any relevant documents or information pertaining to these procedures and the extent of WhatsApp usage for official purposes.
What’sApp
There are many ways of communicating available to us as individuals, one of the main applications being WhatsApp. Within TfL it’s recognised that the use of WhatsApp for work purposes can be convenient and may offer some resilience in the event, for instance, of an emergency situation or a severe failure of our corporate systems. However, it is a TfL policy requirement that any information transmitted in this way which records a substantive decision about any aspect of TfL’s business, or is an input to such a decision, must also be recorded, as soon as possible, on a TfL-managed and supported application. This is in line with guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office, which states that any business-related content transmitted by non-corporate messaging services must be recorded on a corporate system to enable transparency and to allow for future access for purposes such as legal, fraud, SAR requests or freedom of information searches. This is covered in TfL’s Information & Records Management policy, extract below: -
Information & Records Management Policy 4.1.b
“TfL’s policy is to ensure that: Information about TfL’s activities is held in appropriate and readily accessible repositories. Information or communications relating to TfL business, which are sent or received by TfL Staff using non-TfL email accounts, or other non-corporate IT services, must be copied without delay to a TfL system so they can be retained or accessed as necessary (unless they are ephemeral or trivial in nature).”
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
