Every year, under the Freedom of Information Act, we receive numerous requests from citizens requesting documents and information. Before disclosing these documents, though, we must remove some of the details. This usually applies to any personal information that can be on a document; a private citizens’ name, address, email, etc.
Currently, if any information needs to be removed, we do this manually. This can involve A LOT of documents, emails, notes,… you get the point; and not only is this very labor intensive, but, of course, is prone to human error. We’re looking for a tool to be developed that in one quick push of a button, all the information that must be redacted is recognized, highlighted and made black.
We also need a system that helps us retain any version of the document; untouched, annotated, and redacted.
Unfortunately, we don’t have the right knowledge resources to develop such a tool. The requests produced by this Act require an enormous amount of time and it can be impossible to comply within the legal deadlines. In addition, legislation is changing and we will have to provide information of our own accord without it having been requested. All this why also having strict privacy rules! How do we prevent personal data from being shared and prevent manual errors? We need a tool!
We’re looking for a startup that is interested in learning about the Freedom of Information Act with the possibility to experiment with us. If we can find an awesome solution together, we see potential to also collaborate with other provinces in further development.
