anchor.diff:  email address to them. You will be told that this is going to happen.</p>
   </dd>
   
  -<dt id="nasty_spam">Will you send nasty, brutish spam to my email address? <a href="#nasty_spam">#</a> </dt>
  -<dd>Nope. After you sign up to <%= site_name %> we will only send you emails
  +<dt id="nasty_spam">Will you send spam to my email address? <a href="#nasty_spam">#</a> </dt>
  +<dd>No. After you sign up to <%= site_name %> we will only send you emails
   relating to a request you made, an email alert that you have signed up for,
   or for other reasons that you specifically authorise. We will never give or
   sell your email addresses to anyone else, unless we are obliged to by law, or
  
positive.code: 
  </dd>
  
  <dt id="full_address">They've asked for my postal address! <a href="#full_address">#</a> </dt>
  
  <dd>
  <p>If a public authority asks you for your full, physical address, reply to them saying
  that section 8.1.b of the FOI Act asks for an "address for correspondence",
  and that the email address you are using is sufficient.
  </p>
  <p>
  The Ministry of Justice has <a href="http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-procedural-what.htm">guidance
  on this</a> &ndash;
  <em>"As well as hard copy written correspondence, requests that are
  transmitted electronically (for example, in emails) are acceptable
  ... If a request is received by email and no postal address is given, the email
  address should be treated as the return address."
  </em>
  </p>
  <p>As if that isn't enough, the Information Commissioner's
  <a href="http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/freedom_of_information/practical_application/foi_hints_for_practitioners_handing_foi_and_eir_requests_2008_final.pdf">Hints for Practitioners</a> say
  <em>"Any correspondence could include a request for information. If it is written (this includes e-mail), legible, gives the name of the applicant, an address for reply (which could be electronic), and includes a description of the information required, then it will fall within the scope of the legislation."</em>
  </p>
  </dd>
  
  <dt id="postal_answer">No no, they need a postal address to send a paper response! <a href="#postal_answer">#</a> </dt>
  
  <dd>
  <p>If an authority only has a paper copy of the information that you want,
  they may ask you for a postal address. To start with, try persuading them
  to scan in the documents for you. You can even <a href="http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/car_parking_charges_policy_and_a#outgoing-532">offer to gift them a scanner</a>, which in that particular case
  embarrassed the authority into finding one they had already.</p>
  
  <p>If that doesn't work, and you want to provide your postal address privately
  in order to receive the documents, mark your request as "They are going to reply by post", and it will
  give you an email address to use for that purpose.</p>
  </dd>
  
  <dt id="delete_requests">Can you delete my requests, or alter my name?  <a href="#delete_requests">#</a> </dt>
  
  <dd>
  
  <p><%= site_name %> is a permanent, public archive of Freedom of
  Information requests. Even though you may not find the response to
  a request useful any more, it may be of interest to others. For this
  reason, we will not delete requests.
  </p>
  
  <p>Under exceptional circumstances we may remove or change your name
  on the website, <a href="#takedown">see the next question</a>.
  Similarly, we may also remove other personal information.
  </p>
  
  <p>If you're worried about this before you make your request,
  see the section on <a href="#real_name">pseudonyms</a>.</p>
  
  </dd>
  
  <dt id="takedown">Can you take down personal information about me? <a href="#takedown">#</a> </dt>
  
  <dd>
  
  <p>If you see any personal information about you on the site which you'd like
  us to remove or hide, then please <a href="/help/contact">let us know</a>.
  Specify exactly what information you believe to be problematic and why, and
  where it appears on the site.</p>
  
  <p>If it is sensitive personal information that has been accidentally
  posted, then we will usually remove it. Normally we will only consider
  requests to remove personal information which come from the individual
  concerned, but for sensitive information we would appreciate anyone
  pointing out anything they see.</p>
  
  <p>We consider that there is a strong public interest in
  retaining the names of officers or servants of public authorities. We will only
  remove such names in exceptional circumstances, such as where the disclosure of
  a name and position of employment would substantially risk an individual's
  safety. If you are such an official and you wish to have your name removed for
  such an urgent reason, you must supply us with a request to do so from your
  line manager. This request must demonstrate that a risk has been perceived
  which outweighs the public interest, and must demonstrate that efforts have
  been made to conceal the name on the organisation's own website.</p>
  
  <p>For all other requests we apply a public interest test to decide
  whether information should be removed.
  <a href="http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?ActiveTextDocId=3190650"> Section 32</a>
  of the Data Protection Act 1998 permits us to do this, as the material we
  publish is journalistic. We cannot easily edit many types of attachments (such
  as PDFs, or Microsoft Word or Excel files), so we will usually ask
  that authorities resend these with the personal information removed.</p>
  
  </dd>
  
  
  </dl>
  
  <p><strong>Learn more</strong> from the help for <a href="/help/officers">FOI officers</a> --&gt;
  
  <div id="hash_link_padding"></div>
  
  
negative.code: <dd>
  <p>We publish your request on the Internet so that anybody can read it and
  make use of the information that you have found. We do not normally delete
  requests (<a href="#delete_requests">see below for more details</a>).
  </p>
  
  </dd>
  
  <dt id="real_name">Can I make a request using a pseudonym? <a href="#real_name">#</a> </dt>
  
  
  <dd>
  <p>As far as we understand, you may use a pseudonym.</p>
  
  <p>Be careful though: even if the authority follows this good practice, the
  pseudonym will probably make it impossible for you to complain to the
  Ombudsman later about the handling of your request.
  </p>
  
  <p>There are several good alternatives to using a pseudonym.</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Use a different form of your name.</li>
  <li>Women may use their maiden name.</li>
  <li>Use the name of an organisation, the name of a company, the trading name of
  a company, or the trading name of a sole trader.
  <li>Ask someone else to make the request on your behalf.
  <li>You may, if you are really stuck, ask us to make the request on
  your behalf. Please contact us with
  a good reason why you cannot make the request yourself and cannot
  ask a friend to. We don't have the resources to do this for everyone.
  </ul>
  