Sarah
@sarahrobertsco.bsky.social
Digital Service Manager @mySociety inc @WhatDoTheyKnow
I read FOI responses so you don’t have to (and sometimes they’re wild).
I read FOI responses so you don’t have to (and sometimes they’re wild).
📝 #FOINotes North Tyneside: £28.5m building purchase with no property strategy. Initial FOI dodged this. Internal review forced admission: "no Property Plan/Strategy in place prior to the building being offered for sale is true."
Pushing back on initial responses to get to the truth.
Pushing back on initial responses to get to the truth.
November 18, 2025 at 6:43 AM
📝 #FOINotes North Tyneside: £28.5m building purchase with no property strategy. Initial FOI dodged this. Internal review forced admission: "no Property Plan/Strategy in place prior to the building being offered for sale is true."
Pushing back on initial responses to get to the truth.
Pushing back on initial responses to get to the truth.
📝 #FOINotes After Ukraine, Ofcom got enforcement powers for digital sanctions: demand documents from tech platforms, fine ISPs for serving sanctioned Russians, intervene when firms dodge restrictions.
FOI asked for usage since 2022.
Answer? 0 times.
FOI asked for usage since 2022.
Answer? 0 times.
November 16, 2025 at 9:52 AM
📝 #FOINotes After Ukraine, Ofcom got enforcement powers for digital sanctions: demand documents from tech platforms, fine ISPs for serving sanctioned Russians, intervene when firms dodge restrictions.
FOI asked for usage since 2022.
Answer? 0 times.
FOI asked for usage since 2022.
Answer? 0 times.
📝 #FOINotes Someone FOI’d their council to uncover the truth about short pints and the alleged “5% head tolerance”.
This is the transparency work I’m here for.
This is the transparency work I’m here for.
November 16, 2025 at 9:35 AM
📝 #FOINotes Someone FOI’d their council to uncover the truth about short pints and the alleged “5% head tolerance”.
This is the transparency work I’m here for.
This is the transparency work I’m here for.
📝 #FOINotes: A request this week revealed that the Historical Railways Estate (the graveyard of old bridges, arches, tunnels and trackbeds) has pulled in £2.7m in rent since 2017.
November 16, 2025 at 9:08 AM
📝 #FOINotes: A request this week revealed that the Historical Railways Estate (the graveyard of old bridges, arches, tunnels and trackbeds) has pulled in £2.7m in rent since 2017.
📣 #FOItools: Small numbers often get suppressed for privacy (<5 rule). Process documents usually don't.
Want to understand how decisions get made? Ask for criteria, guidelines, scoring rubrics, not totals. You'll learn more and actually get an answer.
Want to understand how decisions get made? Ask for criteria, guidelines, scoring rubrics, not totals. You'll learn more and actually get an answer.
November 16, 2025 at 8:20 AM
📣 #FOItools: Small numbers often get suppressed for privacy (<5 rule). Process documents usually don't.
Want to understand how decisions get made? Ask for criteria, guidelines, scoring rubrics, not totals. You'll learn more and actually get an answer.
Want to understand how decisions get made? Ask for criteria, guidelines, scoring rubrics, not totals. You'll learn more and actually get an answer.
Small FOI themes always fascinate me, like the sudden run of councils releasing data on public clocks 🕰️
The horologists are mobilising.
The horologists are mobilising.
a black and white clock with roman numerals and a floral design on the face
ALT: a black and white clock with roman numerals and a floral design on the face
media.tenor.com
November 16, 2025 at 7:48 AM
Small FOI themes always fascinate me, like the sudden run of councils releasing data on public clocks 🕰️
The horologists are mobilising.
The horologists are mobilising.
Reposted by Sarah
We are deeply concerned about news regarding the expansion of vans equipped with live facial recognition technology (FRT) cameras to 7 police forces across England. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Live facial recognition vans launched in Sussex and Surrey
Some politicians and campaign groups call the technology "intrusive" and "racially biased".
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 11:26 AM
We are deeply concerned about news regarding the expansion of vans equipped with live facial recognition technology (FRT) cameras to 7 police forces across England. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
"What guidance has been followed, what ethical frameworks applied?"
This! In an nutshell - we know that transparency and accountability are key for any AI rollouts. Now, how do we get those in control to do it? 🤔
This! In an nutshell - we know that transparency and accountability are key for any AI rollouts. Now, how do we get those in control to do it? 🤔
How to avoid concreting cowpats (and other AI hokem)
Or, six questions to help scrutinise the AI system or policy solution you're being sold
Delighted to write for @thehousemag.bsky.social @politicshome.bsky.social
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Or, six questions to help scrutinise the AI system or policy solution you're being sold
Delighted to write for @thehousemag.bsky.social @politicshome.bsky.social
www.politicshome.com/news/article...
November 15, 2025 at 8:48 AM
"What guidance has been followed, what ethical frameworks applied?"
This! In an nutshell - we know that transparency and accountability are key for any AI rollouts. Now, how do we get those in control to do it? 🤔
This! In an nutshell - we know that transparency and accountability are key for any AI rollouts. Now, how do we get those in control to do it? 🤔
A decade of evidence: AI gets deployed on people, not by them. No opt-outs, no remedy when it fails, and humans still fact-checking the tech meant to lighten the load.
For healthcare risk and transparency, read this. Zero-trust policy starts here.
For healthcare risk and transparency, read this. Zero-trust policy starts here.
NEW REPORT: Artificial Power, our 2025 Landscape Report, is out.
Today’s AI isn’t just being used by us, it’s being used on us. We urgently need to reclaim public power over the future trajectory of AI. Another path is possible.
Read the report: ainowinstitute.org/2025-landscape
Today’s AI isn’t just being used by us, it’s being used on us. We urgently need to reclaim public power over the future trajectory of AI. Another path is possible.
Read the report: ainowinstitute.org/2025-landscape
November 15, 2025 at 7:46 AM
A decade of evidence: AI gets deployed on people, not by them. No opt-outs, no remedy when it fails, and humans still fact-checking the tech meant to lighten the load.
For healthcare risk and transparency, read this. Zero-trust policy starts here.
For healthcare risk and transparency, read this. Zero-trust policy starts here.
'We are more than our disease or condition', but most healthcare AI is trained to see us exactly as our disease or condition. Pattern recognition sees symptoms and diagnoses, not the person experiencing them. That's the fundamental tension.
Opinion 🗣️
Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association, says that the 10 year health plan’s shift to digital and emphasis on using technology to empower patients will mean addressing big challenges around equity, trust and accessibility.
www.digitalhealth.net/2025/11/rach...
Rachel Power, chief executive of The Patients Association, says that the 10 year health plan’s shift to digital and emphasis on using technology to empower patients will mean addressing big challenges around equity, trust and accessibility.
www.digitalhealth.net/2025/11/rach...
Rachel Power: It’s not enough to tell patients that ‘digital is good’
The 10 year health plan’s shift to digital means addressing challenges around equity, says Rachel Power, CEO of the Patients Association.
www.digitalhealth.net
November 15, 2025 at 7:32 AM
'We are more than our disease or condition', but most healthcare AI is trained to see us exactly as our disease or condition. Pattern recognition sees symptoms and diagnoses, not the person experiencing them. That's the fundamental tension.
Reposted by Sarah
Calling ALL health data folk: Re UK Health Data Research Service.
The UK gov & Wellcome have pledged up to £600 million to create a HDRS.
Myself & an ace team have been tasked by Wellcome to assess the existing health data ecosystem & identify what is needed to support the HDRS 👇.
Get in touch
The UK gov & Wellcome have pledged up to £600 million to create a HDRS.
Myself & an ace team have been tasked by Wellcome to assess the existing health data ecosystem & identify what is needed to support the HDRS 👇.
Get in touch
October 28, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Calling ALL health data folk: Re UK Health Data Research Service.
The UK gov & Wellcome have pledged up to £600 million to create a HDRS.
Myself & an ace team have been tasked by Wellcome to assess the existing health data ecosystem & identify what is needed to support the HDRS 👇.
Get in touch
The UK gov & Wellcome have pledged up to £600 million to create a HDRS.
Myself & an ace team have been tasked by Wellcome to assess the existing health data ecosystem & identify what is needed to support the HDRS 👇.
Get in touch
Reposted by Sarah
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
The value of public R&D
www.gov.uk
October 30, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Sarah
This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Opinion | You May Already Be Bailing Out the AI Business
Washington is treating the industry as if it’s too big to fail, even as the market sends lukewarm signals.
www.wsj.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
This week Open AI walked back a call for the govt to backstop financing for its trillion dollar investments in data centers. This was only the tip of the iceberg; a slow bailout for AI firms is already underway. Read more from @ambakak.bsky.social and I in @wsj.com: www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...
Reposted by Sarah
Women with heart disease are more likely than men to be underdiagnosed, undertreated, and under-represented in research trials.
This persistent gender gap is more than a clinical shortcoming; it is a deeper structural failure in health policy
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
This persistent gender gap is more than a clinical shortcoming; it is a deeper structural failure in health policy
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
November 14, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Women with heart disease are more likely than men to be underdiagnosed, undertreated, and under-represented in research trials.
This persistent gender gap is more than a clinical shortcoming; it is a deeper structural failure in health policy
www.bmj.com/content/391/...
This persistent gender gap is more than a clinical shortcoming; it is a deeper structural failure in health policy
www.bmj.com/content/391/...