Making requests #

I'm not sure which institution to make my request to, how can I find out? #

It can be hard to untangle government's complicated structure, and work out who holds the information that you want. Here are a few tips:

• Browse or search dumeditë looking for similar requests to yours.
• When you've found an institution you think might have the information, use the "home page" link on the right hand side of their page to check what they do on their website.
• Contact the institution by phone or email to ask if they hold the kind of information you're after.
• Don't worry excessively about getting the right institution. If you get it wrong, they ought to advise you who to make the request to instead.
• If you've got a thorny case, please contact us for help.

You're missing the public institution that I want to request from! #

Please contact us with the name of the public institution and, if you can find it, their contact email address for Freedom of Information requests.

If you'd like to help add a whole category of public institution to the site, we'd love to hear from you too.

Why must I keep my request focused?#

Please put in your request only what is needed so that someone can easily identify what information you are asking for. Please do not include any of the following:

• arguments about your cause
• statements that could defame or insult others

If you do, we may have to remove your request to avoid problems with libel law, which is a pain for both you and us. Short, succinct messages make it easier for institutions to be clear what information you are requesting, which means you will get a reply more quickly.

If you want information to support an argument or campaign, Freedom of Information is a powerful tool. Although you may not use this site to run your campaign, we encourage you to use it to get the information you need. We also encourage to run your campaign elsewhere - one effective and very easy way is to start your own blog. You are welcome to link to your campaign from this site in an annotation to your request (you can make annotations after submitting the request).

Does it cost me anything to make a request?#

Not if it costs nothing for the institution to scan it. Making an APD request is nearly always free.

How quickly will I get a response? #

By law, public institutions must respond promptly to requests.

Even if they are not prompt, in nearly all cases they must respond within 7 days. Sometimes if justified they may be able to ask for up to 15 more days, see (full details).

dumeditë will email you if you don't get a timely response. You can then send the public institution a message to remind them, and tell them if they are breaking the law.

What if I never get a response?#

There are several things you can do if you never get a response.

• Sometimes there has been a genuine problem and the institution never received the request. It is worth telephoning the institution and politely checking that they received the request. It was sent to them by email.
• If they have not received it, the problem is most likely due to "spam filters". Refer the institution to the measures in the answer 'I can see a request on dumeditë, but we never got it by email!' in the APD officers section of this help.
• If you're still having no luck, then you can complain to the Information and Privacy Agency about the institution. Read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'.

What if I'm not satisfied with the response? #

If you didn't get the information you asked for, or you didn't get it in time, then read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'.

It says I can't re-use the information I got!#

You can, of course, write articles about the information or summarise it, or quote parts of it. We also think you should feel free to republish the information in full, just as we do, even though in theory you might not be allowed to do so. See our policy on copyright.

Can you tell me more of the nitty gritty about the process of making requests? #

Have a look at the access to public documents pages on the Information and Privacy Agency's website.

Can I request information about myself? #

No. Requests made using dumeditë are public, made under the Access to Public Documents Law, and cannot help you find information about a private individual.

If you would like to know what information a public institution holds about yourself, you should make a "Subject Access Request" in private using Data Protection law. "This page " (on the Information and Privacy Agency's website) explains how to do this.

If you see that somebody has included personal information, perhaps unwittingly, in a request, please contact us immediately so we can remove it.

I'd like to keep my request secret! (At least until I publish my story) #

If you are a journalist, please contact us at [email protected] to get access to such a feature.

Otherwise, all responses that we receive are automatically published on the website for anyone to read. You should contact the public institution directly if you would like to make a request in private.

Can I make the same request to lots of institutions, e.g. all Municipalities? #

We ask you to first send a test version of your request to a few institutions. Their responses will help you improve the wording of your request, so that you get the best information when you send the request to all of the institutions. There is currently no automated system for sending the request to the other institutions, you must copy and paste it by hand.

I made a request off the site, how do I upload it to the archive?#

dumeditë is an archive of requests made through the site, and does not try to be an archive of all FOI requests. We'll never support uploading other requests. For one thing, we wouldn't be able to verify that other responses actually came from the institution. If this really matters to you, you can always make the same request again via dumeditë.

How do you moderate request annotations? #

Annotations on dumeditë are to help people get the information they want, or to give them pointers to places they can go to help them act on it. We reserve the right to remove anything else.

Endless, political discussions are not allowed. Post a link to a suitable forum or campaign site elsewhere.

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