A third party is any other person other than the applicant or the public body. When an application is made for records that contain personal information about a third party, business or individual, the third party may be notified that a FOIPOP application has been made. Third parties will be told what the record contains and be given 14 days to explain why the information should be withheld, or give permission for its release. When a government body has decided to release personal information about a third party, despite their request that it be withheld, the third party can ask for a review by the Review Officer of this decision. This can be done by completing a Form 8 - Request for Review. If the third party is dissatisfied with the Review Officer’s decision, the third party may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia by completing a Form 11 - Appeal.

The legislation prohibits the public body from identifying third parties and applicants to each other. This means that while processing the application, the name of the applicant and any third party should only be known to others within the public body on a need-to-know basis, such as when it is necessary for the processing of the application. Each situation needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.