iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by garethrees

Julia Cushion @juliacushion.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🤩 FOI nerds, assemble! We've got great speakers from around the world for this free three-part series, please register! On Monday 28th Sept (Right to know day) we have Christian Anker from the Chilean Council for Transparency alongside Aiden Clarkson from the UK's @infocommission.bsky.social 💥

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 15/09/2026

We're running a series of three free webinars on Access To Information globally - looking at how campaigners are defending #FOI in their countries, how people are building new Right To Information platforms, and the role of regulators. Sign up for one or more sessions here: pretix.eu/mysociety/3r...

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Julia Cushion @juliacushion.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Should public data have to pay for itself? 🤑 We think charging for data risks reducing the value of public data and locking useful datasets away for the long term. Quick summary of our response to the government’s call for evidence: www.mysociety.org/2026/08/27/t...

mysociety.org

The problem with making public data pay for itself

The government is looking at whether public bodies should have more freedom to charge for access to their data, and we've responded to its call for evidence. There are good reasons to be cautious abo...

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Alex Parsons @alexparsons.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Read our round-up on this: bsky.app/profile/alex...

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Alex Parsons @alexparsons.bsky.social · 19/03/2026

Even by the normal standards, a very weak case being made here. Almost all of the increase relates to records moving to the National Archives. www.ft.com/content/2c34...

Government figures are discussing a reduction in the cost ceiling for processing a request as the number of annual submissions has spiralled, according to people familiar with the situation.
The soaring number of requests comes against a backdrop of heavily constrained Whitehall budgets, they added.

Officials said that in 2024, the last year for which there is published data, 83,041 requests were received across all monitored bodies in central government — the highest number since monitoring began in 2005. This was an increase of 12,566 requests, or 18 per cent, on the previous year.
Ninety per cent of the increase related to the National Archives and the transfer, which is taking place over six years, of about 9.7mn Ministry of Defence historic service personnel records.

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Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Back in November, this story about Ofcom monitoring VPN use in the UK did the rounds. Someone made an FOI request to Ofcom about what tools they were using and the response was just published: and it's Apptopia FOI: www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/deta... www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-priv...

techradar.com

Exclusive: Ofcom is monitoring VPNs following Online Safety Act. Here's how

Ignoring VPNs risks creating ineffective laws, but tracking them threatens people's privacy

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Julia Cushion @juliacushion.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

🌟 Tomorrow! 🌟 We've had a fantastic run of events all about the power of freedom of information to make real world change, and I think this one could be our best yet! We'd love to see you there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/networked-...

eventbrite.co.uk

Networked auditors: crowdsourcing and community-led ATI

Discover how three organisations are using crowdsourcing and ATI laws to uncover data, monitor public projects, and drive accountability

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Campaign for Freedom of Information @campaignfoi.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Happening this Wednesday and what an excellent line up!

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Scottish Information Commissioner @foi.scot · 10/04/2025

As part of the 20 year celebrations we are holding our first webinar of 2025. If you are a member of the public, a campaigner or just someone want to access their information rights, this is the webinar for you. 🔗 Register now: tinyurl.com/WebinarFOI

Using FOI: a guide to making successful information requests
Free online webinars
Tuesday 29.04.25 14:00-15:30 or Wednesday 30.04.25 18:00-19:30.
Book now: foi.scot/foi-users-guide

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WIRED @wired.com · 18/03/2025

They're called public records for a reason. Starting today, WIRED will *stop paywalling* articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, becoming the first publication to partner with @freedom.press to offer this for our new coverage.

freedom.press

Wired is dropping paywalls for FOIA-based reporting. Others should follow

As the administration does its best to hide public records from the public, Wired magazine is stepping up to help stem the secrecy

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garethrees @garethrees.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Really enjoyed this. Lots of parallels with our work in the government-adjacent space, especially the success metrics.

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mySociety @mysociety.org · 21/11/2024

Remembering the many changes that John Prescott was part of today. Way back in 2004 the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funded mySociety with £250k - supporting many of our early projects such as WriteToThem, PledgeBank and HearFromYourMP www.theguardian.com/society/2004...

theguardian.com

More than just elections

A campaign to reach politically complacent folk has kicked off with online polls, e-petitions and digital forums - and this is just the beginning, says SA Mathieson.

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