mySociety

Description

WhatDoTheyKnow is a website that helps anyone in the UK submit a Freedom of Information request to government departments, local councils, the NHS, the armed forces, state-funded schools and universities, and other public authorities, and to regulators holding information about businesses and charities. Users choose a public authority, write a short description of what they want to know, and the site sends the request on their behalf. The request and any response are then automatically published on the site so anyone can read them, building a large public archive of released information.

An account is free, and a paid tier, WhatDoTheyKnow Pro, is offered to journalists and others who need to make more requests or have specialised needs. The service also helps people report data breaches, and volunteers can join to help with administration, communications, legal review of requests, user support or campaigning around Freedom of Information.

WhatDoTheyKnow was established in 2008 and is run by volunteers, built on the Alaveteli software platform. It is built and run by mySociety, a registered charity and limited company in England and Wales that also runs a commercial subsidiary, SocietyWorks. mySociety’s trustees govern the charity, which was initially funded by the JRSST Charitable Trust. The site reports over 220,000 registered users, with roughly 15 to 20 percent of requests to UK central government made through it, and around six million visitors a year who use it to access already-published requests and responses without submitting one themselves.