Transparencia

Description

Transparencia is a Belgian platform that helps people request access to information held by public authorities. These include municipalities, social welfare centres, social housing companies, ministerial cabinets, public ministries and inter-municipal bodies. A user picks the authority and writes a request describing the question or document needed. The platform forwards the request to that authority.

The requester is notified by email when a reply arrives, or when the legal response deadline of thirty days expires. Every response received is automatically published on the site so anyone can see it. Publicity legislation obliges most public authorities to answer most requests, either with the requested information or with reasons for refusal.

Users may flag a request they consider inappropriate, such as one seeking personal data or a vexatious request. A request already flagged cannot be reported a second time. Transparencia is run as a project of Anticor Belgium, an association independent of any public authority. It was built in collaboration with Alaveteli, the request platform software created and managed by mySociety.