Introduction to WhatDoTheyKnow #

What is WhatDoTheyKnow for? #

Under the Freedom of Information Act, everyone has the right to request information from the UK Government and other UK public bodies.

WhatDoTheyKnow shows you how to make a Freedom of Information request. You can access information about central government, local government, Parliament, the NHS, the armed forces, state-funded schools and universities, and other public authorities.

You can also use the site to find information that regulators hold about businesses, charities, and other organisations.

How does the site work? #

Choose the public authority you want information from, then write a brief note describing what you want to know. We will send your request to the public authority. Your request and any response are automatically published on the website for anyone to find and read.

Does it cost money to get an account on the site? #

No. You can create a free account on the site. Once you have an account, you can make up to ten free Freedom of Information requests each day. The ten-per-day limit is more than enough for almost all of our users.

We offer a paid service called WhatDoTheyKnow Pro for journalists and others who may need to make more requests or have special requirements.

Why would I bother to do this? #

Public bodies are funded using public money. Since it's your money that public bodies are spending, you might want to check that they are running efficiently, making good decisions, and doing their job.

The more we find out about how government works, the better we can suggest ways to improve things that are done badly and celebrate things done well. Some people use the site for research, journalism, campaigning, or raising awareness. Others are simply curious.

Why would the public authority bother to reply? #

Under Freedom of Information and other access to information laws, public authorities have to respond. The response will either contain the information you want or give a legal reason why it hasn't been provided.

Does useful information get released through the site? #

Yes. Thousands of documents have been released through the site. See also: 366 Interesting things that we know because of WhatDoTheyKnow.

What if I see a request I feel is inappropriate? #

Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid for FOI purposes. See our House Rules for more on how we expect people to use this site.

If you believe a request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators.

Why are there some requests I can't report? #

If a request has already been reported to the site administrators, you can't report it a second time. This prevents the administrators from being notified multiple times about the same issue before they've had a chance to review it.

If you think a request that's been previously reported should be taken down, but a decision has been made not to remove it from public view, you can use the form in the sidebar of the request page to contact the administrators.

How many people use WhatDoTheyKnow? #

We have over 300,000 registered users. Around 15% to 20% of requests to UK Central Government are made through WhatDoTheyKnow.

But that's just the people who request information. Most visitors to our site don't make requests themselves. They benefit from being able to access information in the requests and responses of others. Around six million people per year visit the site.

Who makes WhatDoTheyKnow? #

mySociety runs and maintains WhatDoTheyKnow. mySociety is a registered charity in England and Wales (no. 1076346). mySociety is also a limited company registered in England and Wales (no. 03277032) and a registered data controller (no. Z9602302). The mySociety trustees form the governing body of the charity and are ultimately responsible for controlling the management and administration of the charity. mySociety's registered office is mySociety, 483 Green Lanes, London, N13 4BS.

mySociety is not a public body.

The JRSST Charitable Trust initially funded the site.

If you like what we're doing, you can make a donation.

How can I keep up with news about WhatDoTheyKnow? #

We have a blog and we're on Facebook and Twitter too.

Next, read about making requests -->