ODI urges government not to use open data as an excuse to clamp down on FOIs

"A government funded organisation that was founded by the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, which focuses on promoting the benefits of making use of open data, has warned the Cabinet Office against any plans it may have for clamping down on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. The public request from the Open Data Institute (ODI) will come as somewhat of a blow to the government, which has referenced the work it has carried out in the field of open data when announcing that it has set up a new commission to investigate the effectiveness of FOIs. Its argument seems to be that as long as it is committed to releasing as much data as possible, FOIs become less relevant. However, policy lead at the ODI, Ellen Broad, has said explicitly said that the 'UK’s progress publishing and using open data should not be confused with, or viewed as a substitute for, robust Freedom of Information laws'. The introduction to Broad’s blog, which clearly explains why open data and FOI requests are not one and the same, states that 'open data will never make FOI laws redundant' ..."