One of the flaws that we are having in Mexico is the lack of public information, not just open data, but also whist-blower information. Form the open data side there has been a movement from the civil society they started with Codeando México and Datamx.io, the platform gain attention from different governments and eventually the federal government launched a dedicated site for open data.
But on the side of investigative journalism and government accountability there hasn’t been to much in Mexico, the IFAI (Institute for Information Access and Data Protection) is the the government agency responsible for the Government transparency, but even with some regulations the access to public information is restricted some times even for non critical information such as public transportation or infrastructure contracts. Also with the violence and the “war on drugs” that is going on in the country to share information has become -in some matters- quite dangerous.
With that in mind some NGO’s and news websites launch MexicoLeaks, a platform for whistleblowing, where people could go online and anonymously send information to one or various NGO’s or websites, then the journalists and the people working with the NGO’s could publish the information. The goal of the platform as they describe it is: “that the impact of the disclosures is maximised, in a media level as well as in a civil an legal one”.
The use of technology in this kind of projects could help to get more citizens to participate with anonymous information, not just information about government, but also for some other issues like private companies. At the end its about making public information that could help the citizens to get a better place.
In a networked public sphere having the possibility to access information could help to get the citizens more engaged in public debates that other wise wouldn’t exist. Bringing new technologies to empower and at the same time protect the citizens is part of the construction of an active society that engages in public matters.