Access to Information in the e-Government Context: Freedom of Information Deception or Data Protection Menace?

In e-government initiatives, the sharing of information is crucial for empowering citizens and boosting joined-up services. The lack of clear guidance on how to share government data can potentially lead to two opposite scenarios: Freedom of Information deception or Data Protection menace. In this paper, we are going to address these issues by drawing from the main concerns governments have when dealing with Freedom of Information and Data Protection issues. As illustration, we comment on the findings of a case study we have conducted in a Local Authority in the UK. Our findings show that local government managers might be struggling to adequately implement Freedom of Information and Data Protection aspects. Cultural aspects are subtly present in this context, as managers’ values and beliefs regarding public access to information may be biased toward one aspect to the detriment of the other.