Availability and findability of FOI and privacy statements on Finnish municipalities’ websites

Tuija Kautto,Pekka Henttonen

doi:10.7577/ta.1968

Abstract

FOI and privacy statements are statements in which an organization inform users about the accessibility of the digital and analog information in its custody and the privacy policy it has adopted. This study examined whether Finnish municipalities have posted FOI and privacy statements on their websites.At the first phase 309 municipal websites were examined to see whether the statements were located on the front page or if there were direct links to them at the front page. If the website did not have FOI or privacy statement or a link to statements at the front page, then it was studied whether the statements could be found easily in the municipal website by making a simple search. At the second phase 38 municipal websites were studied.The study resulted that FOI and privacy statements are non-existent on Finnish municipal websites. The study also revealed while there is sometimes an effort to provide information on municipal FOI and privacy practices, the information is scattered on the website and it is not easy to find. This is in accordance with the previous studies in other countries. Interestingly, long tradition of Finnish FOI legislation does not seem to make a difference when it comes to informing users about FOI and privacy policies.Future studies should examine how aware are the citizens about FOI and privacy rights; whether the citizens trust authorities in handling information; and what are the reasons why authorities ignore to inform the citizens about FOI and privacy practices.

Highlights

Introduction and problem statementFreedom of Information (FOI) and privacy are two concepts that are today inseparably linked to public sector information management
The analysis examined whether FOI and privacy statements could be found at the front page and what concepts were used in this connection
A large search result did not necessarily mean that the information retrieved was relevant, because a large search result often provided useless, outdated and irrelevant information. This is again in line with previous findings which have demonstrated that municipal websites have links that point to nonexistent privacy policies (Dias et al, 2013); most municipalities do not ensure the findability of privacy statements (Beldad et al, 2009); most often information that is available on a municipal website is related to buses, museums, libraries, touristic and culture (Miranda et al, 2009); and, websites are structurally difficult to navigate, and the sites are not open or accessible for citizens and the information they need cannot be found (West, 2004)

Summary

Introduction

Freedom of Information (FOI) and privacy are two concepts that are today inseparably linked to public sector information management. Both FOI and privacy are tools for greater societal goals that go beyond the value of accessibility of information and protection of privacy. FOI can be a tool for increased participation of citizens, trust, democratic control, and accountability of political decision makers and administration. The origins of FOI go back to Swedish Freedom of Press Act 1766 which marks the beginning of Finnish FOI legislation. Today over 100 countries have introduced access to information legislation. (Shepherd, 2015.)

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