(j) personal correspondence, home and family;
“personal information bank” means a collection of personal information that is organised or retrievable by
the name of an individual or by an identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to that individual and includes personal images;
“prescribe” means prescribe by regulations made in terms of section ninety-one;
“press card” means a document issued to a journalist in terms of section seventy-nine;
“public body” means any body prescribed as a public body in terms of the first column of the Second Schedule to this Act.
“public event” means any event or meeting which the public or any section of the public, is permitted to attend, whether on payment or otherwise;
[Definition inserted by section 2 of Act 20 of 2007]
“record” includes books, documents, maps, drawings, photographs, letters, vouchers, papers and any other
thing on which information is recorded or stored by graphic, electronic, mechanical or other means, but
does not include a computer programme or any other mechanism that produces records;
“responsible person”, in relation to a mass media service, means the person who discharges the functions of a
chief executive officer of that service, by whatever name or title that person may be described;
[Definition inserted by section 2 of Act 20 of 2007]
“third party”, in relation to a request for access to a record or for correction of personal information, means
any person, group of persons or organisation other than the person who made the request;
“trade secret” means information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, programme, device, product,
method, technique or process, that is used, or may be used, in business or for any commercial advantage
and—
(a) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to the
public or to other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; and
(b) is the subject of reasonable efforts to prevent it from becoming generally known; and
(c) the disclosure of which would result in harm or improper benefit.
(2) Where a mass media owner does not manage the mass media service of which he is the owner, any reference to a mass media owner in sections forty-six, sixty-six, sixty-seven, seventy-one, seventy-three and eighty-six
shall be construed as a reference to the mass media service.
3 Application of Act in relation to other laws
(1) This Act shall apply to matters relating to access to information, protection of privacy and the mass media
and shall be construed as being in addition to and not in substitution for any other law which is not in conflict or
inconsistent with this Act.
(2) If any other law relating to access to information, protection of privacy and the mass media is in conflict
or inconsistent with this Act, this Act shall prevail.
4 General application of Act
(1) This Act shall apply to all records in the custody or under the control of a public body, but shall not include the records listed in the First Schedule.
(2) This Act shall not limit the information available by law to a party to a legal proceeding.
PART II
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
5
Right to information
(1) Subject to section ten, every person shall have a right of access to any record, including a record containing personal information, that is in the custody or under the control of a public body:
Provided that such access shall not extend to excluded information.
(2) Where information can be extracted from a record that contains excluded information, an applicant may
have access to the part of the record that is not excluded information.
(3) Nothing contained in this Act shall confer any rights to information or to a record to —
(a) a person who is not a citizen of Zimbabwe, or is not regarded as permanently resident in Zimbabwe by
virtue of the Immigration Act [Chapter 4:02], or is not the holder of a temporary employment or residence permit or students permit issued in terms of that Act;
(b) any mass media service which is not registered in terms of this Act, or to a broadcaster who is not registered in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act [Chapter 12:06]; and
(c) any foreign state or agency thereof.