BYPASSING SLOW FOIA-CHANNELS (OEP)
? ? Brenno de Winter
Nov 30 2010 ? Nov 30. In some countries, like the Netherlands, FOIA-requests
can take a very long time. Some agencies have such slow systems that queries
for recent digital documents can last up to two months, easily. When data is
released a lot of crucial data is often withheld triggering a slow legal
procedure. Fortunately for many documents there is a better, quicker way to
get more and quicker info: file a FOIA in Norway.
Compared to many nations the Norwegian government is more transparent. For
starters all government-documents can be found in an online register: http://www.oep.no/
(English
description). Don't worry if you don't speak Norwegian, because Google
Translate (http://translate.google.com/)
will help you out. Through an advanced search you can query for subject,
party involved and of course the age of the documents. In principle all
documents should be in the system, because it is a crime not to enter all
information in the national document register.
As soon as you find something of interest you can easily add this to a
basket like in any webshop or search for more related documents with the
same casenumber. As soon as you are done you "check out" from the webshop by
leaving some details, like your e-mail address. Of course the service is
free. In some cases documents won't be released for restrictions in the
FOIA, but in most cases they will. Sometimes documents may arrive in minutes
but in other cases you'll have see a response within a few days. The law
says they should answer within three days, but mileage may vary and
sometimes you have to wait a week.
The good is that the documents are less redacted than in other countries and
often help finding clues what to ask in slower operating FOIA-systems. For
starters this is a easy way of getting access to information, understanding
policy and getting a feeling for topics you want to research. Beginning is
simple: take some time to understand the site, experiment and start
searching. In less then ten minutes Per Anders Johansen from the Aftenposten
learned me how to begin and my first Dutch stories are bound to be published
soon on Norwegian FOIA-requests.
Source: FRINGE
SPITTING:
* Wayward
biweekly
journal with news & tools for researchers and foi specialists *
* Editor: Roger Vleugels - roger.vleugels@planet.nl *
* Donations are very welcome, see colophon *
* Year 9 - No. 151 – Dec 1- 2010 *
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