Privacy for Requesters?: “Protecting the Freedom of Information Act Requestor: Privacy for Information Seekers,” an article by Sarah Shik Lamdan in the Kansas Journal of Law & Pubic Policy, Vol. 21, p. 221, 2012.
The abstract says:
FOIA requests are one of the foremost tools of American democracy, a primary means for assuring government transparency. Asking for government information is a basic right of American citizens. Unfortunately, this right is threatened by a lack of privacy for FOIA requestors. Current laws do not contain mechanisms to prevent the release of FOIA requestors’ personal information and the substantive contents of their requests. Once outside of requestors’ hands, the contents of FOIA requests can be used to invade requestors’ private lives and even as a tool of persecution, especially in situations where the requests deal with controversial materials and issues. Leaving requestors’ information unprotected threatens to deter people from making FOIA requests. This article explains the insidious nature of the current FOIA scheme on requestors’ privacy, describes successful models for protecting requestors’ privacy, and proposes that either the FOIA or the Privacy Act of 1974 be amended to protect requestors’ privacy rights, discussing the benefits and potential pitfalls of each approach.
Aid Transparency: Development assistance from emerging economies is less transparent than traditional donors, according to research by Transparency International and student researchers
India: The Hindi version of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 as posted on the official website of Central Government had some factual mistakes in it. The mistakes, 34 in all, were pointed out by an RTI activist Commodore (retd.) Lokesh Batra, who expressed the fear that Hindi speaking states could follow the incorrect version, jeopardizing the spirit of RTI Act. After eight years of continuous follow up by Mr. Batra, the mistakes have been finally rectified and the correct version is now available on the site, according to the RTI Foundation.
Internet: The Internet Society released its annual Global Internet User Survey indicating that a majority of global users believe Internet access should be considered a basic human right and freedom of expression should be guaranteed. The complete questionnaire, full results—including results by country—and more information on survey methodology are available at: http://www.internetsociety.org/survey
Job: The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), India – New Delhi Area, India, is seeking a Senior Programme Officer (Right to Information), South Asia. The job posting says: “The position provides an exciting opportunity for a legal and/or development professional with experience of working on issues relating to RTI transparency and governance, to be part of a skilled team that has successfully worked on promoting and safeguarding the law in collaboration with RTI advocates and specialists in the region.”
Consultancy: The Transparency & Accountability Initiative (T/AI), the publisher of Opening Government, “a short, accessible summary of the state of the art and the practical steps that OGP participants and other governments can take to achieve openness on a wide range of open government fields,” is seeking a consultant to prepare a second edition: “updating existing chapters, adding new ones, and using the process of development to stimulate discussion and sharing with interested groups.” Download the Terms of Reference. Deadline Nov. 30
Social Media: An article in The Atlantic: How Social Media Could Revolutionize Third-World Cities
Extractive Industries: Interview: Extractive industry transparency movement at crossroads. “The movement to bring greater transparency to the oil, gas and mining industries is facing a crucial time in its development and needs to overcome three significant challenges to continue to be successful,” Daniel Kaufmann, head of the international transparency watchdog Revenue Watch Institute told TrustLaw. The transparency movement must become more global, the data produced by the extractive industries must be clear and comparable across countries, and the movement must work to build up expertise within resource-rich countries so that local transparency watchdogs, governments and media can interpret the data, Kaufmann, a former World Bank economist, said.
Open Government: “How will we know if open government is successful?” A blog posting by Simon Burall, director of Involve, discussing topics including how to ensure that the least powerful are able to use new technology platforms to hold governments to account, to make public services work for them.
World Bank: The World Bank Integrity App expands the World Bank’s open data universe by allowing to report concerns of fraud or corruption in Bank-financed projects.
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