ude email - and must include the information listed above so as to enable the agency to properly discharge its duties under AIR 13. In addition to the information listed above, the applicant should also provide brief reasons for making the application. Where the applicant does not provide sufficient information, the agency should seek any additional information it needs from them before making a determination as to whether to proceed with the application. 216 Duties of agency on receipt of application, and record of views: AIR 13 and14 11.41. It is ultimately for the agency to determine whether to disclose protected information to a person who requests it. In making that decision the agency is required under the Act to take steps to seek the views of the subject of the information (or the parent or guardian if that person is a child) and weigh these up against the welfare of the adopted person and all the other circumstances of the case. Where the information is about a child, the agency must have particular regard to the child’s welfare – for an adopted child this must be the paramount consideration. 11.42. Adoption records, like other records, are subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 (apart from the subject access provisions, see chapter 10). So where it is a question of the possible disclosure of ‘third party’ information, such as identifying information about members of the birth family or former foster carers, the agency must not only act in accordance with sections 61 and 62 of the Act, but also in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act. There is some overlap between what is required under the Act and the DPA. Third party information is a complex area and sometimes third party information may also be relevant to the adopted 