This book makes a basic promise: It will help you pry loose government information. Governments are obsessed with controlling the message. This is your book to help get records they do not want to disclose.
Your Right to Know tells you how to use freedom-of-information laws to gain access to government records on spending, policies and activities. It is a citizen's guide and a research tool for the general public, special-interest groups, journalists and businesses.
Freedom-of-information laws exist in dozens of countries, and this book shares the principles of research in easy-to-pursue steps to obtain the information you want from governments and other institutions.
Foreword xiii Introduction xv Part One: Background 1 1 History 3 2 The Laws 5 1. The Right to Information 5 2. Balancing the Right to Know with Certain Protections 6 3. The Privacy Side 6 4. Fees 6 4.1 Exemption from fees 6 5. The Right to Complain 7 3 Who Uses Access to Information? 9 4 Getting Started 13 1. The Iceberg Theory 13 2. Getting Started 14 3. Research 15 vi Your Right to Know 4. What You Know and What You Don't 17 Part One Review 19 Part Two: How to Request Information 21 5 Writing a Request 23 1. Who 23 2. What 25 3. When 28 4. Where 28 5. How 29 6. Drafting the Request 31 Part Two Review 35 Part Three: Follow-up 37 6 Acknowledgement Letter 39 7 Follow-up 43 1. Duty to Assist 43 2. Follow-up 45 8 Keeping Track of Requests and Timing 47 1. Keeping Track 47 2. Extensions 48 3. Delays 50 4. Fees 51 9 Negotiating 55 Part Three Review 63 Part Four: The Response to Your Request 65 10 Decoding the Information 67 11 Exemptions and Exclusions 73 1. Exemptions 73 2. Exclusions 77 Contents vii 12 Gaps in the Laws 81 13 Complaints 83 1. Filing a Complaint in Canada 83 2. Filing a Complaint in the United States 88 Part Four Review 93 Part Five: Some Useful Tactics 95 14 Piggybacking 97 15 Previously Released, Archival, and Overlooked Records 99 1. Previously Released Records 99 2. Archival Records 100 3. A Closer Look at Previously Processed Requests 101 4. Overlooked Records 105 16 Data 109 Part Five Review 113 Part Six: Other Avenues 115 17 The Privacy Acts 117 18 Reform 121 Conclusion 125 Appendix I: Tips for Journalists 127 Appendix II: Sources for Further Reading 129 Download Kit 135 Tables 1 Access to Information Requests 10 2 Federal Access Requests in Canada 49 3 Canadian Exemptions 20122013 75 viii Your Right to Know 4 Database 111 5 Privacy Requests in 20122013 120 Samples 1 Question Period Briefing 26 2 Unique Agency Record 27 3 Acknowledgement Letter 41 4 Fee Statement 52 5 Access to Information Request Form 57 6 Initial Response 58 7 Second Response 59 8 Fee Statement 60 9 Email Detailing Phone Call to Reduce Fees 61 10 Formal Response Letter 71 11 Emails: Decoding the Information 72 12 Exemption 76 13 Cabinet Record 79 14 Canadian Access to Information Complaint Forms 85 15 Complaint Letter 86 16 Complaint Acknowledgement Letter 87 17 Two Illustrations: Before and After Complaining 90 18 US Template Letter 92 19 Illustration of Archival Record 102 20 Completed Requests 103 21 Illustration of Video Obtained under the Federal Access Law 106 22 Illustration of a Newsletter Obtained under the Federal Access Law 107
