Blog post - How public bodies themselves use FOI

[sallytay]

Suggestion as made on inbox thread: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#label/Blog%2Fpublicity+ideas/FMfcgzGllCmcNpxmlcnjgFhzjsCRZSWL

Needs further research and should not be case specific, we’d need to base it on public information.

Suggestion by @RichardTaylor

Edit: Removing quoting RT

[garethrees]

There's a reddit thread about an authority employee wanting to use FOI to make internal improvements https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCivilService/comments/153tza3/any_comeback_for_making_a_foi_request/

A couple of insights:

• A bit of exasperation that they feel they need to "turn to FOI". Actually we should make the case that it's a great "API" for most things. Someone notes FOI is "a disclosure to the world" (re: exemption use). We should look at how that would work for internal disclosure. Just because someone works somewhere doesn't necessarily mean they should have carte blanche to see lots of private PII that's unrelated to what they're doing, for example?
• Quite a bit of caution over being seen as antagonistic (recognising that in theory FOI is applicant blind). This relates a bit to https://github.com/mysociety/whatdotheyknow-theme/issues/1424.
• Couple of recommendations for using WDTK. Can then say "I found the info on the internet!"
• There's this: "An FOI is not just information provided to an individual, but if granted; the information becomes available to the general public.". This might need a bit of a mindset change. All information is available to the public by default, unless exempt.

[MyfanwyNixon]

This might need a bit of a mindset change.

Makes me wonder (again) whether Reddit might be a good place for an official mySoc account (or WDTK for that matter) that could act as a kind of brand advocate.

Capacity, though, as ever.

[garethrees]

Yeah. I think it's more about spotting these things in the wild, writing about them on our own platforms, and then hopefully those who are pointing to WDTK will point to the more specific advice we've written.

[HelenWDTK]

This might need a bit of a mindset change. All information is available to the public by default, unless exempt.

In theory. They mean without them needing to ask for it. Whilst this is kinda true, without a knowing what info an authority has, you might not even know to ask for it in the first place.