Exploring the implementation blind spots: Selective Decoupling of Freedom of Information

George Kuk, Jimmy Chim, Stephanie Giamporcaro, Marijn Janssen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volumeConference contributionScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

The right to know under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in the UK has made public authorities as the duty-bearer, often making them to selectively decouple practices from policies. This has resulted in disclosing data that may derail from the intended goals of open government. By analyzing the top fifty requesters who made 34,314 requests, we examine how the same requests can result in varying responses. Our preliminary findings suggest four implementation blind spots. The first entails data disclosure that contravene privacy and the second disclosure can potentially jeopardize the long-standing stakeholder relationship. Whereas the last two types withhold information despite it is in the public interests. The findings offer a counterintuitive insight that public authorities are willing to disclose information in support of transparency and accountability and to withhold information that is not in the public interests. We find the opposite with private pursuits superseding public interests.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of ICIS 2017: Transforming Society with Digital Innovation
PublisherAssociation for Information Systems
Pages1-11
Number of pages11
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Event38th International Conference on Information Systems: Transforming Society with Digital Innovation, ICIS 2017 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Duration: 10 Dec 201713 Dec 2017

Conference

Conference38th International Conference on Information Systems: Transforming Society with Digital Innovation, ICIS 2017
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CitySeoul
Period10/12/1713/12/17

Keywords

  • Freedom of Information
  • Implementation blind spots
  • Selective decoupling

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