Open AccessOpen Government Data and the Right to Information: Opportunities and Obstacles
Author(s) -
Katleen Janssen
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
the journal of community informatics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1712-4441
DOI - 10.15353/joci.v8i2.3042
Subject(s) - freedom of information , open government , government (linguistics) , limiting , legislation , right to know , access to information , open data , business , information access , public relations , political science , internet privacy , computer science , law , world wide web , engineering , mechanical engineering , philosophy , linguistics
This article discusses the relationship between the open government data (OGD) movement and the right to information (RTI) movement. While both movements are closely related, there are some differences that may have a considerable impact on the right of the citizen to access government information. The article argues that the calls for OGD may on the one hand risk limiting the access to government information, while on the other hand they may also provide an alternative source of access to information for existing freedom of information legislation, which is being threatened in some countries.