This may sound like a deep philosophical question, but it is not intended to be.

The question of what we actually mean by information has a very practical relevance.

The important point is that information is not the same thing as the record that contains the information.

This means that you or I are entitled to any piece of information that is covered by the access to information law, regardless of what form it is held in. It does not matter whether it is a printed document, a computer record, an audio recording or is held in some other format.

So, if a member of the public makes an information request they should be able to do so by identifying the information that they want. They should not be required to identify where the information is held - in which document or computer file or whatever. The reason is obviously that a member of the public will almost certainly not know where the information is held.

So the member of the public can say, e.g.:

'I want to request information about the budget for repair of street lighting this year, please.'

Not:

'I want to request local council document SL/40275/GHR234/pb/632/g, please.'

As a rule, in an access to information law there will always be some information that the authorities will be allowed to keep confidential. For example, it would not be correct for them to release private personal data about an individual to someone else.

However, a single record - a document or a computer file - may contain a mixture of confidential and public information. Therefore, making a distinction between the record and the information it contains means that the body holding the record can release that part that is public, but not the part that is confidential.