Alaveteli is our software for running Freedom of Information websites. It’s currently running websites that help people in 26 jurisdictions to submit FOI requests and publish the responses. Between them, these sites have processed and published over 96,454 requests this year.
Going Pro
With funding from the Google Digital News Initiative, we’ve been building Alaveteli Professional. This Freedom of Information toolkit will make it easier for journalists and campaigners to research data-driven stories of importance to us all.
Alaveteli Professional will be available as an option for anyone running a site on Alaveteli. The first out the door is WhatDoTheyKnowPro, launched in the UK after extensive testing by journalists.
i have moved my FOI life onto @WhatDoTheyKnow's new pro platform, and omg it is a joy
— hal (@halhod) September 29, 2017
Loving the new @WhatDoTheyKnow Pro account. Super slick.
— Charlie Mole (@Charlie_Mole) July 3, 2017
If you're a journalist or campaigner in the UK, you need to know about our new #FOI service.
— Mark Cridge (@markcridge) December 5, 2017
Of all the new @mySociety projects we've launched recently I'm probably most proud of the team for this one. https://t.co/08CqJ5lcFi
Stories from WhatDoTheyKnowPro
Welcome to new Alaveteli site Opramachine.com in New Jersey
Unusually for an Alaveteli site, OPRAmachine covers a state rather than a country. There’s a good reason for that.
New helping hands
WhatDoTheyKnow is run by volunteers, who give their valuable time to help users and administer the site. This year we’re glad to welcome Michael, Kieran and Gavin to the team.
Jenna and Lucas are the investigative reporters who’ve joined us to help spread the word about WhatDoTheyKnowPro amongst the journalist community, with workshops, tutorials and the sharing of story-worthy data with key publications.
And Graeme is our new Alaveteli-focused developer, helping us forge ahead with new features and developments.
Geeky morning spent scanning Freedom of Information requests @WhatDoTheyKnow. So easy to use. Brilliant tool for campaigning & investigation
— Victoria Forsgate (@VictoriaFors) July 21, 2017
A surprising use for Alaveteli
It was of course built for FOI, but in Croatia they’ve retooled Alaveteli as a consumer complaints platform.
New authorities
We added Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships and the Police Federation to the list of bodies you can contact on WhatDoTheyKnow.
number of requests 73,217
made on WhatDoTheyKnow this year.
Uncovering all sorts of information — perhaps most remarkably, details of the autopsy of Alexander Litvinenko.
