{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/digital-economy-act-2017/section-51",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/digital-economy-act-2017/section-51.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2017/30",
  "legislation_title": "Digital Economy Act 2017",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/digital-economy-act-2017",
  "path": "section/51",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "51",
  "heading": "Information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs",
  "text": "(1) Personal information disclosed by the Revenue and Customs under section 48 and received by a person may not be disclosed by that person.\n(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a disclosure which is made with the consent of the Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (which may be general or specific).\n(3) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.\n(4) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (3) to prove that the person reasonably believed—\n(a) that the disclosure was lawful, or\n(b) that the information had already and lawfully been made available to the public.\n(5) Subsections (4) to (7) of section 19 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 apply to an offence under subsection (3) as they apply to an offence under that section.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 51 in force at 1.5.2018 for E.W.S. by S.I. 2018/382, reg. 3(p)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I2",
      "text": "S. 51 in force at 12.2.2026 for N.I. by S.I. 2026/126, reg. 2(k)"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/30/section/51",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T09:05:20.126764+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}