# Right To Information Portal

A Brief explainer on what the Right to Information (RTI) Portal is and why we built it.

## What is Right to Information?

Right to Information, also known as freedom of information, or right of access to information, is first and foremost a human right!

> ***Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights***** | *****UN***
>
> *Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.*

Right to Information is a right also afforded to everyone in the Maldives via the constitution.

> ***Article 29 - Freedom of Aquiring and Imparting Knowledge***** |  *****Constitution of the Maldives.***
>
> Everyone has the freedom to acquire and impart knowledge, information and learning.

How this right can be exercised is outlined in legislation passed in 2014

[***Right to Information Act 1/2014***](https://icom.mv/uploads/English%20translation%20of%20the%20Right%20to%20Information%20Act.pdf)

## Current Limitations and Issues with the RTI Mechanism

* Taking into consideration the power the Right to Information Act provides, **the number of people using the RTI mechanism is still very limited**. 
* Information disclosed through requests for **information are treated as secret, even when everybody has a right to it**. As a result, multiple people may end up requesting the same information, with no knowledge about each other, leading to time being wasted for institutions and information seekers alike. This also prevents information seekers from refining their requests based on information that has already been disclosed, resulting in duplication of work and wastage of resources
* **No power in the masses for collective pressure to disclose information**. Currently happens in own bubbles, media doesn't share information with other media, and nor do individuals share information with other individuals. 
* **Information Officers do not get paid** additionally for the extra workload, therefore a lot of IOs do not take the responsibility seriously, while the ones that do take it seriously do not get compensated for the extra workload. Especially taxing on IOs that work for ministries that have multiple projects in the pipeline but do not disclose any of the crucial project-related information.  
* Some information officers are **unaware of the power that they wield** as the information officer and are also scared to act on those powers due to a manufactured fear of authority and civil service. 
* **No way to anonymously send RTI Requests**. - This limits the RTI mechanism function as a safe tool for transparency and whistleblowing. 
  * Having your name exposed sometimes can cause **institutions to take things personally** especially if you are working to blow the whistle on corruption or malpractices. 
  * Also sometimes the **responses are manufactured** to suit the person asking the questions when in fact the spirit of the RTI act is towards proper explanations to queries posed to institutions via the RTI Mechanism. 
* **Institutions that are mandated to publish data also do not publish their data.** (In some cases they don't actually properly maintain the data either) Usually blaming poor IT support or NO IT support to maintain or update their websites. 

##


# Features of the Portal

An Explainer of some of the features of the system and how it solves the issues and limitations of the current RTI Mechanism

### Fully Digitized 

The RTI portal makes it insanely easy to send out an RTI Request. Everything can be done either through a PC or even your mobile phone. There is no need to print, sign, scan upload and email requests through the portal.

Fill in the required fields in a web form and the RTI Application Form (PDF) will auto-generate once signed by the user. This will then be sent out to the institution after verification from the team. 

### Centrally displayed and Curated

All the requests sent through the portal will be displayed along with their timeline of events. (when it was sent, acknowledged, replied to, extended, ignored, the works) This list of requests along with the information recieved will be public and searchable. 

![How all the RTI requests recieved will get displayed on the RTI Portal](/files/U7tEGSFk165vLiYW68EM)

Along with the RTI requests sent being visible to everyone, all the data received will also be published on [data.archive.mv](https://data.archive.mv/). This is done with the idea to promote data sharing and data disclosure to allow the public to eventually identify and fill the data gaps and improve the data set over time. (This is a long game) 

![How the responses to the RTI requests would be displayed along with the documents released in response to the RTI request.](/files/5sOkcgcNj3zUlct5Nb34)

All the data will centrally be displayed on [data.archive.mv](https://data.archive.mv/) as well as will be viewable through the responses and documents released in response to an individual right to information request as visible in the above example. 

{% hint style="info" %}
data.archive.mv will get populated with data and released later this year
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### Tracking of RTI Requests

RTI Requests are time-bound. (As stipulated in the RTI Act) Both for the requester as well as the institution that would respond to the RTI request. 

The portal does the tracking from the time that the request is sent to when the data has to be received. Automating the process ensures that no time is lost (because we tend to forget) and reminders are sent to both the requester as well as the institution so that we can push for data disclosure. 

Additionally, we also use this time data points to grade the institution on how responsive they are to requests. 

![Timeline of events related to the RTI would be visible publically.](/files/ByecFlxMvuRrm3aZ3GOO)

{% hint style="danger" %}
***We intend to publish data on the performance of institutions when it comes to responsiveness as well as timely disclosure of information. Current experience with the system is that Institutions wait till the very last day to respond.***
{% endhint %}

 **Twitter Bot**

The portal also has a Twitter bot linked to the portal's Twitter account [@RTIPortalMv](https://twitter.com/RTIPortalMv) 

The bot's primary function is to inform, remind and build public pressure around Right to Information. 

![Twitter Account for the RTI Portal](/files/NdipRdP3mckkuPTaa2CZ)

#### How the bot works 

The Bot is programmed to release tweets triggered by events. This could be a new RTI Request sent out through the portal, information is received, not received, the deadline for response passes, etc. 

In the cases where information has not been received and the institutions are delaying disclosure, the bot will also tweet to the heads of those institutions and other personnel associated with the organization. 

This is to build public pressure for information disclosure. 

If it is information that you are interested in getting the government institution to disclose then the public can help by commenting, retweeting, and liking these tweets. 

{% hint style="success" %}
The aim is to collectively work together for more data and information disclosure.
{% endhint %}

### Subscribing to Requests

Everyone can subscribe to any RTI request as all the requests would be displayed publically as mentioned in the [#fully-digitized](#fully-digitized "mention")section of this document.

Beyond using twitter to subscribe to tweet notifications you are also individually able to subscribe to RTI Requests so that you get access to the documents as soon as it's received and uploaded onto the system. 

Subscribers will be notified via email with the documents also attached in the email. 

![UI Mockup of how the Request Subscription Function would look like.](/files/D9mdniLjth0HP0n7mAYW)

{% hint style="info" %}
Mobile SMS notification is still a work in progress. Will be rolled out later in the year. Depending on how fast we are able to grow the user base. 
{% endhint %}

Additionally, Journalists and Media Firms can hop onto our ***Permanent Subscriber*** list. This would ensure that they receive information and data on all RTI Requests that are sent through the system.

#### Display of Number of Subscribers

We will be publicly displaying how many people are subscribed to the RTI Request. This will publically show how many people are interested in getting that information disclosed by that institution. 

{% hint style="success" %}
Together we will put pressure on the government to disclose more and more information and data **proactively**. 
{% endhint %}


# data.archive.mv

Open Data Repository

data.archive.mv will be an **online data repository** for information and data received primarily through Right to Information Requests. 

The website will also have features for users to submit data to be published. This can come from institutions directly, donor agencies, consultancies, CSOs, and the public. 

Users can navigate through available data and if they feel that there is something missing or you KNOW that something is missing they can always send an RTI request to the relevant institution asking for that information. 

Over time we want to push for proactive disclosure and ensure that as much of the information and data that has been hoarded for decades by the government is made available to the public.

**Collectively** we will force **Open Data** and **Data-Backed Decison Making** to not just be election buzzwords. 

{% hint style="info" %}
data.archive.mv will be launched later this year.
{% endhint %}


# Open Source + Open Data Policy

The project aims to promote open data and data disclosure from government and institutions and organizations that support and work with the government. This includes UN Agencies, International Donor Agencies, Local and International CSOs as well as researchers that rely on data from the government for their work. 

The project has been initiated with funding out of pocket but for the long-term sustainability of the project, we aim to get the project to be maintained as an open-source project so additional features and tools can be built by contributors. 

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This Section is currently being populated.
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# GitHub Repository

The project source files will be published eventually on GitHub for the public to contribute to the development and long-term sustainability of the project. 

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This section is currently being populated.
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# Important Resources

### Where to Find information officers? 

The primary source of information officer details is maintained by the Information Commissioner's Office. The Information Officers can be found through the link below. 

[List of Information Officers ](https://icom.mv/officers)

### RTI Manual By Transparency Maldives

RTI Manual is a document created by Transparency Maldives to help everyone understand the Right to Information Process and is by far the best resource available in regards to Right to Information in the Maldives.

[RTI Manual by Transparency Maldives](https://transparency.mv/v16/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/RTI-Manual-digital-version_latest.pdf)