Openbaarheid

U kunt dan aan uw achterban uitleggen dat u hier als een leeuw heeft gevochten voor uw belang.

Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.

Not only is freedom of access to information a basic human right, it is also a precondition for informed public participation in governance, i.e. for democracy. Open and transparent governance is also considered a precondition for preventing and revealing corruption and maladministration.
Consequently knowledge about openness and access to information is a crucial element in the implementation and promotion of human rights and democratic principles.

Elke belangrijke wetenschappelijke ontdekking wordt gevolgd door een cruciale stroom informatie en onderzoeksgegevens die resulteert in verificatie, weerlegging of nadere uitwerking van het idee of de nieuwe theorie. Om dit proces mogelijk te maken worden abstracte ideeën of theorieën niet beschermd door auteurs- of octrooirechten.

The public domain is the sovereign space of all citizens of the world. Like the air we breathe, it is free for all people to use, without restriction, no rights reserved. Our public ownership of this domain of knowledge should be understood as a fundamental human right to access our shared knowledge, the use of which is not the result of a grant by any specific government.

"Privacy is the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extend information about them is communicated to others.

The privacy and dignity of our citizens [are] being whittled away by sometimes imperceptible steps. Taken individually, each step may be of little consequence. But when viewed as a whole, there begins to emerge a society quite unlike any we have seen -- a society in which government may intrude into the secret regions of a [person’s] life.

Een overheid die als amateur bestuurt zal ook als amateur registreren en archiveren. En vooral vergeten, veel vergeten.

Effective democratisation can always be measured by this essential criterion: the participation in and the access to the archive, its constitution, and its interpretation.

De Wob is een recht van de burger - geen gunst van de overheid.

... zeigt, worum es bei Archiven, diesen «Gedächtnissen des Staates», immer auch geht: um die Macht über die Geschichte - und damit letztlich um die Macht über die Köpfe.