# Health and Social Care Act 2008, Section 76: Disclosure of confidential personal information: offence

Extent: E+W

(1) This section applies to information which—
(a) has been obtained by the Commission on terms or in circumstances requiring it to be held in confidence, and
(b) relates to and identifies an individual.
(2) A person is guilty of an offence if the person knowingly or recklessly discloses information to which this section applies during the lifetime of the individual.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates’ court, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine, or to both.
(4) In relation to an offence committed before 2 May 2022, the reference in subsection (3)(a) to the general limit in a magistrates’ court is to be read as a reference to 6 months.
(5) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), information obtained by the Commission is to be treated as identifying an individual if the individual can be identified from a combination of—
(a) that information, and
(b) other information obtained by the Commission.
(6) Reference in this section and in sections 77 to 80 to information obtained or disclosed by the Commission includes information obtained or disclosed by a person authorised by the Commission.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/14/section/76 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/health-and-social-care-act-2008/section-76
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.