Justice for FOI
FOI Man greets the Justice Select Committee’s Post-Legislative Scrutiny report with some relief. This week is a very exciting time for everyone in the UK. It’s finally here, after 7 years, and months of wrangling …
FOI and the Olympics
FOI Man recalls how the successful Olympic and Paralympic Games bid affected the management of FOI requests at the Greater London Authority. This coming Friday the London 2012 Olympic Games open. And it seems like …
Who exactly is the Big Brother in this story?
FOI Man asks whether a former ICO employee working for Google, or an MP using him to make political points, is the greater threat to a free society. Oh dear. I was planning a quiet …
The loneliness of the FOI Officer
FOI Man reflects on the difficulties of being an FOI Officer. I don’t normally take requests (well, apart from those for information, of course). But one FOI Officer asked if I could write a post …
Chillax, Man, there’s no reason to worry about FOI
FOI Man takes a flame thrower to the “chilling effect”, and notices how easily it melts away. A very good friend feared my wrath when he tweeted that “The more I think about, the less …
In defence of the exemption
FOI Man suggests that we should view the use of exemptions, and even decisions of the Information Commissioner and Tribunal, in a different light. It’s a common shorthand in media stories about FOI that use …