Day 3: What Policies should inform the FOI?
Dear All, I trust we may now move on to day 3. Those with comments still on day 1 and 2 can still do so. The themes were... Day 1: Why Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? Day 2: What are the current modalities for accessing data held by Data Handlers (Govt or Private Sector)? Today's topic really looks as to waht should be the basic reasoning behind the FOI policy and hence law. The principles listed hereunder have been recognized by Article 19 ( an international organizatioin dealing with freedomm of te press and related issues) as what should guide the FOI laws(policy). PRINCIPLE 1. Maximum disclosure That the law should seek this as its underpinning philosophy. PRINCIPLE 2. Obligation to publish That there should be an obligation to publish and requests should be for non-crucial/ essential / bulky information. PRINCIPLE 3. Promotion of open government That the law should promote / recognise the importance of open government. PRINCIPLE 4. Limited scope of exceptions That the exceptions should be clear , precise and allowable in a democratic society/ i,e should not take away what the law seeks to grant. PRINCIPLE 5. Processes to facilitate access Clear processes for request should exist. PRINCIPLE 6. Costs These should be kept at a minimum for the public has already paid for the creation of the information through taxation. PRINCIPLE 7. Open meetings Other than informnation, there should bea promotion of open dialogue at decsion making level. PRINCIPLE 8. Disclosure takes precedence The tests that are to be applied by the commssioner and the appeal tribunal should seek disclosre unless the exceptions and the public interest demand otherwise. PRINCIPLE 9. Protection for whistleblowers That those who disclose information that is in the public interest, inspite of the exceptions should not be victimised/ should be protected. Lets go! Kihanya ____________________________________________________________________________________ Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097
Thanx Kihanya for your efforts. Indeed this is a fairly un-convential topic in that it has no obvious or immediate financial connotations - hence the slower responses... But back to my contribution. I think the policy informing the Freedom Of Information bill should look towards empowering the citizens through facilitating their access to knowledge/information. We need to think through how our collective data regarding our heritage, history, social and economic transactions can be harnessed and made to serve the common good. I know this bill has tended to create controversy because it has often been looked at in the narrow terms of the Govt vs the Media i.e. Media seeks info visa-vis Govt sits on Info. True, this could be one of the issues but it should not limit our scope because the bill should be a reflection of broader policy issues that touch on different data sitting on various platforms such as (Private) Media Broadcasters, Mobile service providers, ISPs, eBankers, etc. How for example can KTN be asked to share (or sell) their valuable film clips to the Kenya Archives dept? How can the East African Standard avail their 100years+ data to the public? When or Why should Safaricom/Celtel divulge the SMS transcript of a certain subscriber to the Police, to the Media or the Private Investigator? What kind of data security standards and practices should we place for critical and national data stores such as KRA, KPA, Immigration, etc? What of the Certification Authority (CA) providers that are likely to play a cenral role in a future eCommerce environment, how will they collect, protect and avail their data? So I think these are some of the Policy issues that need to be thrashed out in the process of coming up with the final FOI bill. walu. --- joseph kihanya <kihanyajn@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear All,
I trust we may now move on to day 3. Those with comments still on day 1 and 2 can still do so. The themes were...
Day 1: Why Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? Day 2: What are the current modalities for accessing data held by Data Handlers (Govt or Private Sector)?
Today's topic really looks as to waht should be the basic reasoning behind the FOI policy and hence law.
The principles listed hereunder have been recognized by Article 19 ( an international organizatioin dealing with freedomm of te press and related issues) as what should guide the FOI laws(policy).
PRINCIPLE 1. Maximum disclosure
That the law should seek this as its underpinning philosophy.
PRINCIPLE 2. Obligation to publish
That there should be an obligation to publish and requests should be for non-crucial/ essential / bulky information.
PRINCIPLE 3. Promotion of open government
That the law should promote / recognise the importance of open government.
PRINCIPLE 4. Limited scope of exceptions
That the exceptions should be clear , precise and allowable in a democratic society/ i,e should not take away what the law seeks to grant.
PRINCIPLE 5. Processes to facilitate access
Clear processes for request should exist.
PRINCIPLE 6. Costs
These should be kept at a minimum for the public has already paid for the creation of the information through taxation.
PRINCIPLE 7. Open meetings
Other than informnation, there should bea promotion of open dialogue at decsion making level.
PRINCIPLE 8. Disclosure takes precedence
The tests that are to be applied by the commssioner and the appeal tribunal should seek disclosre unless the exceptions and the public interest demand otherwise.
PRINCIPLE 9. Protection for whistleblowers
That those who disclose information that is in the public interest, inspite of the exceptions should not be victimised/ should be protected.
Lets go!
Kihanya
____________________________________________________________________________________
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Hi Kihanya, Want to draw a poniter to a related matter as is being dealt in a different country. Please see the link below. http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1242852,00.html?track=NL-102&ad=578130HOUSE&asrc=EM_NLN_994760&uid=5800974 Walu had mentioned something related: the protection of consumer data by private companies too. It is important that this is captured. Sorry, cannot find the actual mail on the thread but sure he can relate it. Muthoni On 2/14/07, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thanx Kihanya for your efforts. Indeed this is a fairly un-convential topic in that it has no obvious or immediate financial connotations - hence the slower responses...
But back to my contribution. I think the policy informing the Freedom Of Information bill should look towards empowering the citizens through facilitating their access to knowledge/information. We need to think through how our collective data regarding our heritage, history, social and economic transactions can be harnessed and made to serve the common good.
I know this bill has tended to create controversy because it has often been looked at in the narrow terms of the Govt vs the Media i.e. Media seeks info visa-vis Govt sits on Info. True, this could be one of the issues but it should not limit our scope because the bill should be a reflection of broader policy issues that touch on different data sitting on various platforms such as (Private) Media Broadcasters, Mobile service providers, ISPs, eBankers, etc.
How for example can KTN be asked to share (or sell) their valuable film clips to the Kenya Archives dept? How can the East African Standard avail their 100years+ data to the public? When or Why should Safaricom/Celtel divulge the SMS transcript of a certain subscriber to the Police, to the Media or the Private Investigator? What kind of data security standards and practices should we place for critical and national data stores such as KRA, KPA, Immigration, etc? What of the Certification Authority (CA) providers that are likely to play a cenral role in a future eCommerce environment, how will they collect, protect and avail their data?
So I think these are some of the Policy issues that need to be thrashed out in the process of coming up with the final FOI bill.
walu.
--- joseph kihanya <kihanyajn@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear All,
I trust we may now move on to day 3. Those with comments still on day 1 and 2 can still do so. The themes were...
Day 1: Why Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? Day 2: What are the current modalities for accessing data held by Data Handlers (Govt or Private Sector)?
Today's topic really looks as to waht should be the basic reasoning behind the FOI policy and hence law.
The principles listed hereunder have been recognized by Article 19 ( an international organizatioin dealing with freedomm of te press and related issues) as what should guide the FOI laws(policy).
• PRINCIPLE 1. Maximum disclosure
That the law should seek this as its underpinning philosophy.
• PRINCIPLE 2. Obligation to publish
That there should be an obligation to publish and requests should be for non-crucial/ essential / bulky information.
• PRINCIPLE 3. Promotion of open government
That the law should promote / recognise the importance of open government.
• PRINCIPLE 4. Limited scope of exceptions
That the exceptions should be clear , precise and allowable in a democratic society/ i,e should not take away what the law seeks to grant.
• PRINCIPLE 5. Processes to facilitate access
Clear processes for request should exist.
• PRINCIPLE 6. Costs
These should be kept at a minimum for the public has already paid for the creation of the information through taxation.
• PRINCIPLE 7. Open meetings
Other than informnation, there should bea promotion of open dialogue at decsion making level.
• PRINCIPLE 8. Disclosure takes precedence
The tests that are to be applied by the commssioner and the appeal tribunal should seek disclosre unless the exceptions and the public interest demand otherwise.
• PRINCIPLE 9. Protection for whistleblowers
That those who disclose information that is in the public interest, inspite of the exceptions should not be victimised/ should be protected.
Lets go!
Kihanya
____________________________________________________________________________________
Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Please unsubscribe or change your options at
http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com
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Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmuthoni%40gmail.com
I just received this mail from another mailing list, which I consider quite relevant to this thread. ----forwarded message---- [farber] From: Paul Levy <plevy@citizen.org> Date: February 13, 2007 9:37:27 PM EST I want to call your attention to a case just filed by my colleague Jennifer Soble on behalf of an anonymous Internet speaker whose identity was revealed by his ISP, nj.com, without giving the speaker any notice or opportunity to oppose disclosure. Even though New Jersey is the state the pioneered the protection of anonymous Internet speakers by the adoption of the "Dendrite" standard requiring notice and proof of wrongdoing before a subpoena can be enforced (established in 2001 by Dendrite International v Doe), and even though nj.com is run by a consortium of New Jersey newspapers that ought to appreciate the need to protect anonymous sources, nj.com released its customer's identity without making any effort to determine whether there might be a basis for opposing the subpoena and without any notice to the anonymous speaker so that he could move to quash the subpoena in the manner for which Dendrite provides. The result was that the speaker (who criticized local firefighters on a community blog run by nj.com) was identified publicly on the blog, ridiculed, and run out of town. The lawsuit claims that nj.com's release of identifying information without any notice was a violation of the ISP's privacy policy as well as being a tort under New Jersey law. Paul Alan Levy Public Citizen Litigation Group 1600 - 20th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009 (202) 588-1000 http://www.citizen.org/litigation
Robert Yule 02/13/07 2:55 PM >>> PUBLIC CITIZEN PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Contact: Jennifer Soble (248) 568-7660 Feb. 13, 2007 Robert Yule (202) 588-7703 Public Citizen Represents Former New Jersey Town Council Member in Suit Against Internet News Site NJ.com Breached Contract by Revealing Identity of Anonymous Poster, Suit Says WASHINGTON, D.C. - An online news site unlawfully revealed the identity of a former New Jersey town official who had posted anonymous comments on its message board, according to a lawsuit filed today by Public Citizen on behalf of the official. When his identity was made known, he was publicly humiliated and forced to resign. Michael Gallucci, a former town councilman for Teaneck, N.J., posted messages anonymously on a Teaneck area message board on NJ.com, a news site and Internet service provider (ISP) owned by New Jersey On- Line, LLC. The ISP provides a forum dedicated to many towns within the state where visitors to the Web site can anonymously post comments related to the locality. From Dec. 16, 2005, to Dec. 21, 2005, Galluci posted on the site criticisms of William J. Brennan, a firefighter who had been employed with the Teaneck Fire Department. Brennan was a regular poster on NJ.com's Teaneck message board, where he lodged frequent complaints against the Teaneck Council under the name "WJBrennan." Prior to Dec. 16, Brennan had also been a party to approximately 10 lawsuits involving the township of Teaneck, as well as the Teaneck Council members. The ISP unlawfully released Galluci's identity publicly on the message board after it received a subpoena from Brennan's lawyer. New Jersey law requires that anonymous Internet users first be given notice before subpoenas seeking their identity can be enforced, so that the speaker can challenge the validity of the subpoena and protect his identity. The release of his name on the message board led to overwhelming criticism of Galluci, his forced resignation from the Township Council, and public humiliation as the story was picked up by local and major media outlets. Galluci, who grew up in Teaneck and whose social network, including his family and friends, was located in the township, felt forced leave Teaneck. He quickly sold his home and relocated to another city. "When a newspaper is asked or even subpoenaed to identify a source of one of its news stories, any paper worth its salt would fight the subpoena before revealing that information," said Jennifer Soble, a lawyer for Public Citizen who is litigating the case. "When a newspaper invites citizens to comment on its Web site, it owes those citizens the same protections against unreasonable intrusions into their privacy." To view the lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, visit http://www.citizen.org/documents/galluccicomplaint.pdf. Public Citizen has a record of defending the First Amendment rights of Internet users. To learn more, visit http://www.citizen.org/litigation/briefs/IntFreeSpch/ ### Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please see http://www.citizen.org. --- /Alex Dorcas Muthoni <dmuthoni@gmail.com> wrote: Hi Kihanya, Want to draw a poniter to a related matter as is being dealt in a different country. Please see the link below. http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1242852,00.html?track=NL-102&ad=578130HOUSE&asrc=EM_NLN_994760&uid=5800974 Walu had mentioned something related: the protection of consumer data by private companies too. It is important that this is captured. Sorry, cannot find the actual mail on the thread but sure he can relate it. Muthoni On 2/14/07, John Walubengo <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote: Thanx Kihanya for your efforts. Indeed this is a fairly un-convential topic in that it has no obvious or immediate financial connotations - hence the slower responses... But back to my contribution. I think the policy informing the Freedom Of Information bill should look towards empowering the citizens through facilitating their access to knowledge/information. We need to think through how our collective data regarding our heritage, history, social and economic transactions can be harnessed and made to serve the common good. I know this bill has tended to create controversy because it has often been looked at in the narrow terms of the Govt vs the Media i.e. Media seeks info visa-vis Govt sits on Info. True, this could be one of the issues but it should not limit our scope because the bill should be a reflection of broader policy issues that touch on different data sitting on various platforms such as (Private) Media Broadcasters, Mobile service providers, ISPs, eBankers, etc. How for example can KTN be asked to share (or sell) their valuable film clips to the Kenya Archives dept? How can the East African Standard avail their 100years+ data to the public? When or Why should Safaricom/Celtel divulge the SMS transcript of a certain subscriber to the Police, to the Media or the Private Investigator? What kind of data security standards and practices should we place for critical and national data stores such as KRA, KPA, Immigration, etc? What of the Certification Authority (CA) providers that are likely to play a cenral role in a future eCommerce environment, how will they collect, protect and avail their data? So I think these are some of the Policy issues that need to be thrashed out in the process of coming up with the final FOI bill. walu. --- joseph kihanya <kihanyajn@yahoo.com> wrote:
Dear All,
I trust we may now move on to day 3. Those with comments still on day 1 and 2 can still do so. The themes were...
Day 1: Why Freedom of Information (FOI) Act? Day 2: What are the current modalities for accessing data held by Data Handlers (Govt or Private Sector)?
Today's topic really looks as to waht should be the basic reasoning behind the FOI policy and hence law.
The principles listed hereunder have been recognized by Article 19 ( an international organizatioin dealing with freedomm of te press and related issues) as what should guide the FOI laws(policy).
PRINCIPLE 1. Maximum disclosure
That the law should seek this as its underpinning philosophy.
PRINCIPLE 2. Obligation to publish
That there should be an obligation to publish and requests should be for non-crucial/ essential / bulky information.
PRINCIPLE 3. Promotion of open government
That the law should promote / recognise the importance of open government.
PRINCIPLE 4. Limited scope of exceptions
That the exceptions should be clear , precise and allowable in a democratic society/ i,e should not take away what the law seeks to grant.
PRINCIPLE 5. Processes to facilitate access
Clear processes for request should exist.
PRINCIPLE 6. Costs
These should be kept at a minimum for the public has already paid for the creation of the information through taxation.
PRINCIPLE 7. Open meetings
Other than informnation, there should bea promotion of open dialogue at decsion making level.
PRINCIPLE 8. Disclosure takes precedence
The tests that are to be applied by the commssioner and the appeal tribunal should seek disclosre unless the exceptions and the public interest demand otherwise.
PRINCIPLE 9. Protection for whistleblowers
That those who disclose information that is in the public interest, inspite of the exceptions should not be victimised/ should be protected.
Lets go!
Kihanya
____________________________________________________________________________________
Finding fabulous fares is fun. Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel bargains. http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Please unsubscribe or change your options at
http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com
____________________________________________________________________________________ Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/dmuthoni%40gmail.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@kictanet.or.ke http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet Please unsubscribe or change your options at http://kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alex.gakuru%40yahoo.com --------------------------------- Bored stiff? Loosen up... Download and play hundreds of games for free on Yahoo! Games.
participants (4)
-
Alex Gakuru -
Dorcas Muthoni -
John Walubengo -
joseph kihanya