FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Freedom of Information

Freedom of Information

Introduction

This paper intends to discuss the significance of freedom of information. Freedom of information remains one of the most important issues that the governments face in recent times. Confidential data and information being public create several huge problems for the politicians to justify their viewpoints on various underlying issues. Due to rapid increases in technology advancement, the negatives of associated with the advancement become more dominant and evident. The purpose of this paper is to make the reader aware about the important of the issue related to freedom of information. Moreover, my opinion about the negatives or positives being associated with freedom of information will also be elaborated within this paper.

Discussion

Only 6 years after coming into effect in Scotland, and, separately, in the rest of the UK, has the upstart Wiki Leaks upstaged freedom of information? Access to unexpurgated material has certain attractions compared to the often legalistic and tortuous procedures involved in extracting information from reluctant authorities using the rights afforded in law. Heather Brooke, whose own FoI requests into Parliamentary expenses famously cost several members their seats in Parliament, (and for a few their liberty following criminal convictions), has compared FoI unfavorably to the “radical transparency” of Wiki Leaks saying the conclusion one comes to after trying to get information legitimately is that the law is largely a waste of time (Andrew, Alice & Elizabeth, 2011 Pp. 111-121).

Wiki Leaks has certainly put into the public domain classified material of a volume and nature which would be highly unlikely to emerge through FoI. The so-called Iraq War logs were comprised of 400,000 documents. Over 250,000 diplomatic cables are said to have leaked from the US State department. Not all of these were beyond the scope of legal disclosure. Many documents were unclassified and a FoI request may well have provided sight of information from even classified material. Undoubtedly, however, various exemptions intended to prevent harm to international relations or national security, or to protect personal data would have been applied to information which is now in the public domain as a result of leaks (Martin, 2008 Pp. 1-15).

Brooke's charge sheet against FoI is wide-ranging: authorities can override the general right to information by claiming statutory exemptions or that cost limits would be breached; the length of time it takes to get a response or even more to secure a decision from a Commissioner devalues the worth of information once it is disclosed; and in any case, it is claimed, deficiencies in enforcement mean that authorities can flout the law. None of these criticisms is without foundation but it needs to be clearly stated: freedom of information is a powerful citizen's right. It has shed light on issues that would otherwise have remained without illumination (Gemma, 2011 Pp. 22-25).

But freedom of information should not be judged by the headlines it can generate. The true worth of FoI is in giving a legal right to information which perhaps is only of interest to individuals or ...