Knowledge is freedom, but what happens when if your ability to gain access to information is compromised? The answer's simple - you get online.
It's been around for 15 years; its influence on our daily lives unquantifiable, yet the internet's full potential is commonly misunderstood and undervalued. It's a powerful medium, but how useful is the net when it comes to digging for hidden information?
Die-hard net heads proclaim that the internet creates and nurtures an environment based on openness, freedom of speech, democracy and self-fulfillment; it represents a watershed in the suppression of information.
Yet for all its popularity and super-efficiency, the net's full potential can only be unleashed if you have the right knowledge to wield it.
Knowledge is power...
If you're into sleuthing, subversion and unearthing information, you'll be a fan of the net -- and more importantly, you'll embrace the Freedom of Information Act with open arms.
The Act, which came into force in January 2005, is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level. Basically, the Act gives any person the right to request information from a public body -- and the right to get that information, subject to a few exceptions.
This Act, together with the power of the internet, makes accessing information - which would otherwise have remained elusive - a big fat reality.
Thousands of public bodies are subject to freedom of information (FOI): local councils, government departments, health authorities, state schools, universities and the Police.
Under FOI you're entitled to see not only paper documents, but also information that may be stored on multimedia and electronic formats. And one you've submitted your request to an organisation, they have a legal duty to respond to requests within 20 days.
Since its introduction, freedom of information has had far-reaching ramifications for the general public. The media, news purveyors in particular, has also benefited greatly.
Whereas key source material for news stories would have stayed under wraps previously, news organisations now have the freedom to access this information and share it with the public.
Public bodies are meeting the demand for information, but not quickly enough by all accounts. Some organisations are allegedly delaying the release of information, in favour of conducting research as to whether the information is of genuine interest to the public.
Some organisations are seemingly fearful of and threatened by freedom of information and the internet. Their defiance represented by identifying loopholes and exemptions within the Act; and their ability to hide behind legalese.
The balance between data protection and freedom of access is in a constant state of flux. But with the internet, the scope for unearthing hidden files and secrets has gone into Hyperdrive.
If you visit sites like the Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, you'll find a mountain of 'missing' files and declassified documents.
The Memory Hole has only one mission in mind: to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known. This includes: government files, police reports, news articles, etc. The site's emphasis is on material that exposes things that we're not supposed to know...
Published on 19th January
