ID, clarification and “stopping the clock”
Identity checks and clarification affect SARs, FOI and EIR requests in different ways. This guide separates the rules.
SAR: necessary identity information
If an organisation reasonably needs information to confirm identity, the one-month SAR period begins when the necessary information is received. It should ask promptly and only request what is proportionate. This is best treated as a start-date rule, rather than a pause in a clock that has already begun.
SAR: reasonably required clarification
For a SAR, the DUAA permits clarification where it is reasonably required to identify the personal information or processing activity sought. The organisation cannot use clarification on a blanket basis or force a requester to narrow a valid broad request.
Work out the original deadline
Start with one calendar month from the SAR start date.
Pause on the day clarification is requested
The stopped period is counted in calendar days.
Resume the day after clarification is received
Add the stopped days to the original response date.
Current ICO guidance treats clarification requested and received on the same day as a one-day stop. Clarification does not create a brand-new one-month SAR period.
What can stop a SAR clock?
The clarification must relate to identifying the personal information or processing activity covered by the SAR and be reasonably required for an effective response. Questions about delivery format or a requester's preference do not automatically stop the clock.
FOIA 2000: clarification starts a fresh 20-day period
If a public authority reasonably requires more information to identify and locate the requested information, it can ask for clarification. Once sufficient clarification is received, the clarified request is treated as a new request and the fresh 20-working-day period begins the following working day.
FOISA 2002: same practical reset, Scottish calendar
Scottish public authorities can likewise require reasonable clarification to identify and locate the information. The 20-working-day clock begins after the clarification is received, using FOISA's Scottish working-day definition.
EIR 2004 and the Scottish EIRs
Where an environmental-information request is formulated too generally and the authority follows the statutory advice-and-assistance process, sufficient clarification is treated as a new request for timing purposes. A new 20-working-day period begins after clarification. This is separate from the EIR complexity-and-volume extension, which can take a qualifying request to 40 working days.
Keep a timeline
Save the original request, the date received, any ID request, the date necessary ID was supplied, any clarification request, your reply, extension notices and the final response. Those dates are often decisive when challenging delay.
Official sources
- ICO – SAR time limits and clarification
- ICO – FOI/EIR clarification
- Scottish Information Commissioner – responding to information requests
- Scottish Information Commissioner – EIR requests that are too general
Reviewed September 2026. Guidance checked against current ICO / Scottish Information Commissioner material and legislation. General information only; verify critical deadlines against the applicable law.