www.opengovernmentrecords.net

Bulgaria
Right to Know Awards, 2004
Right to Know Awards, 2005
Right to Know Awards, 2006
Right to Know Awards, 2007
Right to Know Awards, 2008

"Janane ka haq (Right to Know)" by Vinay and Charu Mahajan

Freedom of information is so novel in our cultural history and so far reaching that the ideas that we inherited and are racing ahead of us are likely misleading us. 

 

For example, people interested in fire safety might be guided by ideas that cause them to overlook requesting fire incident reports from their local fire departments (which are governed by freedom of information).

 

Public and private organizations in British Columbia are required to follow the rules of the land. For public insitutions, those rules are defined by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Foy-Pop or Fih-pa for short). For private institutions, its the Persponsal Information Protection Act (Pipa for short).
 
What happens when you know there's been a violation? Where do you turn? You can turn to the arms of the public body that has been waiting for you all this time.
 

 

 

Jamacia

 

 

Employees of the government of Canada are required to take an oath of secrecy which stipulates that they will not disclose knowledge of the government of Canada "without due authority." However, the Access to Information Act (established in 1983) not only gives public servants that authority to disclose records, it in fact requires public servants to assist citizens. Section 4.(2.1) of the Act trumps oath of secrecy.

 

Heather Brooke, MP Expenses, and the Freedom of Information Act

In the United Kingdom, freedom of information legislation came into effect on January 1, 2005. Heather Brooke, journalist, writer, and freedom of information activist, used the freedom of information act to request copies of the member of parliament's expenses.  This resulted in a furore that culminated in the resignation of Speaker Michael Martin in May 2009. The last Speaker to resign was in 1695.

Swedish Meatballs

Ingredients

pound of ground beef

1 onion (finely chopped)

1 egg

1 cup bread crumbs

1 teaspoon of cinammon

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

Freedom of Information has been used to acquire complaints (minus personal info) about television shows that were submitted to the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. Take a gander at a couple of the complaint files...

Complaint file for the Oprah Winfrey Show  (I've used foi to request the actual text of the original foi request. I'll add it when it's released)

The truth is... under freedom of information, government and public organizations are under a legal obligation to give you access to records in their custody, with limited and specific exceptions. Who can handle this truth?