What’s New
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5 August 2014
Icelandic Group Proposes Drone-Free Country
A nongovernmental organization in Iceland has proposed that the country be a drone-free zone. The International Modern Media Institute said Aug. 2 that plans by the policy to use drones by the police would lead to violations of personal privacy. The plans for police use of drones were reported by the financial newspaper Viðskiptablaðið. The […]
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5 August 2014
New System Evaluates Four Countries’ Online Disclosures
The adequacy of online information disclosure in four countries has been tested with a new methodology that the researchers hope can be refined for wider use. The study covers four countries – Russia, the United States, Georgia and Belarus. It examines whether their official websites provide information in 47 specific categories and rates the adequacy […]
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5 August 2014
Philippines Panel Resumes Writing House FOI Legislation
A Technical Working Group of the Philippines House has resumed working on freedom of information legislation with its chairman providing an upbeat assessment. Rep. Jorge Almonte, who chairs the Public Information Committee, said the “future of the FOI is not bleak.” “The passage of the monumental legislation is just around the corner,” Almonte said as […]
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4 August 2014
UK Ruling Supports Choice Regarding Form of Disclosure
A British Court of Appeal has ruled that a requester should be given a reply in a requested, useable Excel software and not in a pdf format, that can’t be manipulated. The Buckinghamshire County Council had resisted giving information about the 11+ school entry “in Excel format” to requester Nick Innes. It provided 184 pages […]
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4 August 2014
OGIS Begins Posting its Final Response Letters
By Nate Jones This article is reprinted from the blog Unredacted, edited by Jones. Unredacted, like FreedomInfo.org, is published by the National Security Archive. The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the federal FOIA ombuds office that provides assistance in FOIA disputes, has begun posting its final response letters to FOIA problems it has mediated. To date, OGIS has […]
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31 July 2014
Indian State Commissioner Imposes Fines on 4 Officials
A state information commissioner in Andhra Pradesh is pushing for officials to comply with the Right to Information Act and imposing fines. Commissioner P Vijaya Babu at a press conference July 28 said he has asked the chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh to require that officials respond to the applications, according to a report in […]
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31 July 2014
FOI Notes: Africa, India, Open Data, RTBF, More
FOI in Africa: An overview on Africa Check by Karen Mohan, a specialist in media law policy and advocacy at the Media Institute of Southern Africa. India: A long Reuters overview of RTI in India. Open Data: A lengthy article in TechPresident by Miranda Neubauer on the publication of more datasets in New York city. “But what […]
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31 July 2014
El Salvadoran Court Tells Assembly to Reveal Spending
The Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court of Justice in El Salvador has ordered the release of information about spending by legislators. The court unanimously instructed the Board of Directors from the National Assembly to release information about gifts, alcoholic beverages and works of art purchased in 2012 and the source of funds for the […]
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29 July 2014
President Aquino Again Makes No Mention of FOI Bill
Philippines President Benigno Aquino did not mention the freedom of information bill in his annual State of the National address July 28, but the House Speaker affirmed his desire to pass a bill. The Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition had tried to raise the bill’s profile in advance of the speech, gathering 38,000 signatures […]
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29 July 2014
UN Committee Urges Malawi to Pass Information Access Bill
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has recommended that Malawi adopt an access to information bill. It is one of many observations made in a document adopted at a meeting held July 22-23. The committee report says: The State should expedite the adoption of the Access to Information Bill and to ensure that its provisions […]
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24 July 2014
The In ‘t Veld Ruling: Raising the Bar for Denying Access to EU Documents
By Helen Darbishire and Pamela Bartlett Quintanilla The authors — Darbishire, Executive Director, and Quintanilla, Researcher and Campaigner, at Access Info Europe — analyze the wider consequences of the recent European Court of Justice ruling (See previous FreedomInfo.org report). The July 3, 2014, pro-transparency ruling by the European Court of Justice in the legal battle for access to negotiations […]
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24 July 2014
Efforts to Amend US FOIA Law Moving Steadily Along
Legislation to solve what many openness advocates say is a major problem with the way government officials interpret the US Freedom of Information Act seems to be progressing well, with three recent positive bits of information emerging. First, the Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to vote on proposed FOIA amendments in September, FreedomInfo.org has learned. […]
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24 July 2014
FOI Notes: Arabic ATI Guide, OGP in LA, OKFest, Contest, Open Data, Job Posting
ATI Guide in Arabic: An Arabic version of the Guide on ATI, published by UNESCO in April, is available. Latin America: Winds of Change: The Progress of Open Government Policymaking in Latin America and the Caribbean, a book in English and Spanish, reviews activities in 15 countries under theOpen Government Partnership. 2014 OK Festival: A […]
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24 July 2014
Ideas in Liberia Aim to Help Women Access Information
Recommendations for addressing inequities that Liberian women face in the exercise of the right of information were developed at a July 10, 2014, meeting of 47 government representatives, traditional community leaders, and civil society representatives. A meeting was an extension of a Carter Center project that resulted in a study “Women and the Right of […]
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23 July 2014
Will Aquino Deliver on Vow to Pass FOI?
By Nepomuceno Malaluan This article was first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on July 22 and it reprinted with permission Malaluan is co-convenor of the Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition, a network of more than 100 organizations from different sectors that is at the forefront of the campaign for the passage of an FOI Act. He […]
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23 July 2014
The Next Step for Nigerian FOIA: Compliance/Enforcement Stupid!*
By Oluwasegun Obebe The Records, Information & Privacy Officer with the Department of Corrections, Washington, D.C., Obebe previously wrote an article for FreedomInfo.org about the Nigerian FOI law in August 2013. Obebe argues against automatic application of the federal law to the states. FreedomInfo.org has written about a trend toward such application in the courts […]
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22 July 2014
14 CSO Candidates Selected As Finalists to Join OGP SC
Fourteen persons have been selected for the short list of candidates from civil society who still are running to become members of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. The OGP is keeping the list a secret, but FreedomInfo.org obtained a confirmed list of the 14 finalists for the five open seats The 14 are: – […]
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21 July 2014
Altered Access Language Survives in UN Goals
Access to information language, modified on the last day of negotiations and almost deleted, was included in the long list of goals for sustainable development drafted by a United Nations Open Working Group (OWG). The final language on access is: 16.10 ensure public access to information and protect freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and […]
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19 July 2014
Indian CIC Decides to Give Priority to Senior Citizens
The Indian Central Information Commission has decided to give priority to senior citizens for the resolution of pending right to information cases. The decision made in June was recently reported by Economic Times, without many details. The CIC website does not elaborate. Cases of senior citizens — defined as those being 65 on the date […]
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18 July 2014
Access to Information Line Included in UN Document
A line on access to information so far has survived international negotiations in the United Nations Open Working Group (OWG) drafting a new set of development goals. Talks were continuing July 18, the fourth day of meetings, and were expected to continue into the night, with a possibility that the language could change, according to […]