The police hold unique powers to demand answers, to surveil us without our knowledge, to access our homes and most sensitive personal records, and ultimately, to deny us our liberty. How they use, …

Housing associations in England aren’t covered by Freedom of Information. But this month they now need a publication scheme for key info...

Housing associations in England aren’t covered by Freedom of Information. But this month they now need a publication scheme for key info...

Freedom of Information requests aren’t vexatious just because they’re kind of stupid...

Turning the insights you get from datasets into something you can share with other people - and have them understand what you're on about - is a challenge. And a skill that is becoming increasingly vital for data journalists...and anyone else faced with making sense of lots of data. One way to effectively tell stories

Freedom of Information requests aren’t vexatious just because they’re kind of stupid...

Freedom of Information requests aren’t vexatious just because they’re kind of stupid...

For everyone's sake, I won't be sending a press release every time I send a Freedom of Information request. Sacha Lord, described as "the prominent Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester" (he resigned last January) and Chair of the Night Time Industries Association, has launched "a comprehensive Freedom of Information request to HM Treasury,

Freedom of Information requests aren’t vexatious just because they’re kind of stupid...

Freedom of Information requests aren’t vexatious just because they’re kind of stupid...

Freedom of Information can’t be used to find out why loads of people in Wales spent five minutes not entirely sure if the world was ending.

Freedom of Information can’t be used to find out why loads of people in Wales spent five minutes not entirely sure if the world was ending.

Transport for London has a Freedom of Information response rate most public bodies can only dream of (and that includes the ICO).

Restrictions on Freedom of Information restrict access to information. That, generally, being the point.

Restrictions on Freedom of Information restrict access to information. That, generally, being the point.

Even if your Freedom of Information request is refused you can still get a story out of it. Usually one complaining about the lack of transparency...

Even if your Freedom of Information request is refused you can still get a story out of it. Usually one complaining about the lack of transparency...

Restrictions on Freedom of Information restrict access to information. That, generally, being the point.

Convictions for preventing information being released under the Freedom of Information Act are incredibly rare.

Restrictions on Freedom of Information restrict access to information. That, generally, being the point.

Convictions for preventing information being released under the Freedom of Information Act are incredibly rare.

There’s two ways withheld personal information may be released under the Freedom of Information Act. This decision manages to cover both of them.

One in eight people say they’ve made a Freedom of Information request because AI suggested it when they were researching something.

Freedom of Information requests can be handy in August. It all goes a bit quiet when everyone’s on holiday. Planning to have some responses back in the summer (hopefully) can fill in a few story gaps. This week’s Freedom of Information stories… Overheating hospitals NHS staff are suffering from heat exhaustion during shifts as hospitals

Freedom of Information requests can be handy in August. It all goes a bit quiet when everyone’s on holiday. Planning to have some responses back in the summer (hopefully) can fill in a few story gaps. This week’s Freedom of Information stories… Overheating hospitals NHS staff are suffering from heat exhaustion during shifts as hospitals

Freedom of Information requests can be handy in August. It all goes a bit quiet when everyone’s on holiday. Planning to have some responses back in the summer (hopefully) can fill in a few story gaps. This week’s Freedom of Information stories… Overheating hospitals NHS staff are suffering from heat exhaustion during shifts as hospitals

Freedom of Information requests can be handy in August. It all goes a bit quiet when everyone’s on holiday. Planning to have some responses back in the summer (hopefully) can fill in a few story gaps....

What does the new Prime Minister think about Freedom of Information? Given hinted at FOI restrictions, new people at the top could be key in what happens next

Another week, another data breach in a Freedom of Information release. As the fallout from the PSNI data breach continues, you'd think other public bodies would have learned. Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has written to 8,100 current and former employees after an editable spreadsheet was "inadvertently disclosed" as part of a Freedom of Information

How not to handle a Freedom of Information request...

Keeping on top of Freedom of Information requests is hard. I mean for public bodies across the country, rather than just me trying to see what's overdue in my spreadsheet. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has taken some more enforcement action in the past couple of months, on top of the notices already issued. Much

Whistleblowers have raised concerns about electricity grid security…& Freedom of Information being avoided. Such attempts have been going on forever...

Whistleblowers have raised concerns about electricity grid security…& Freedom of Information being avoided. Such attempts have been going on forever...

Whistleblowers have raised concerns about electricity grid security…& Freedom of Information being avoided. Such attempts have been going on forever...

Whistleblowers have raised concerns about electricity grid security…& Freedom of Information being avoided. Such attempts have been going on forever...

From mattresses to saucepans, scientists offer tweaks to help detoxify your space

Whistleblowers have raised concerns about electricity grid security…& Freedom of Information being avoided. Such attempts have been going on forever...

It seems a bit of a weird coincidence if records people have been requesting under Freedom of Information were all destroyed after a public body had been ordered to comply with a request. So the outcome of the Information Commissioner's Office's (ICO) investigation into Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s handling of key dog breeding records

How a refused Freedom of Information request could lead to residents being shut out of local parks next year. Two residents used FOI to ask Witherley Parish Council for meeting notes, documents and emails about the neighbourhood plan - one in February 2021 and the second in May 2021. The parish council said most of

Late (or non-existent) replies are a perennial Freedom of Information problem. But there's some deadlines you probably really want to try and hit...

Freedom of Information is political. And not just in the sense that opposition parties are using it on a weekly basis in Scotland (see below). In the US, among other things going on, unsurprisingly FOI is under attack. Teams that deal with FOIA requests have been entirely cut at the Centers for Disease Control and

A lot of Freedom of Information requests are about local issues. So this week that includes the cost of parking permits, vandalism to school signs, dead game birds and alternative names for train lines. Many of these could have a new life slightly less locally (though the one about pheasants does need some local pheasants).

Public interest is a powerful thing for Freedom of Information. A decision notice from this week shows how the importance of the public being able to find out information about public bodies outweighs potential damage to those public bodies. In May 2023, Wirral councillors decided to purchase the Pyramids and Grange shopping centres in Birkenhead for £10.5m

FOI question of the week via Tim Turner: is information about a cupboard personal data? Background: The Sunday Times, back in 2022, reported on a custom built wardrobe placed in the No 10 chief-of-staff’s office. As happens when things get bought, someone sent an FOI asking for the cost and information about the make/brand. The

Some official information can be hard to access through Freedom of Information. If it's in private emails or Whatsapps, it might be overlooked or hard to get...