Section 171(4)

It is also a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) to prove that— the person acted in the reasonable belief that the person— is the data subject to whom the information relates, had the consent of that data subject, or would have had such consent if the data subject had known about the re-identification and the circumstances of it, the person acted in the reasonable belief that the person— is the controller responsible for de-identifying the personal data, had the consent of that controller, or would have had such consent if that controller had known about the re-identification and the circumstances of it, the person acted— for the special purposes, with a view to the publication by a person of any journalistic, academic, artistic or literary material, and in the reasonable belief that in the particular circumstances the re-identification was justified as being in the public interest, or the effectiveness testing conditions were met (see section 172).

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Source: legislation.gov.uk · retrieved 2026-09-04