Fundamental principles for freedom of information

●      Transparency: Anyone has the right to know Monshaat’s activities, aligning with transparency, integrity, and accountability.

●      Nescicity and coherence: any restrictions on requests to access any kind of information that Monsha’at received, produced, or dealt with, should be justified in a clear and explicit way.

●      Disclosure of information: Anyone has the right to access the general -unprotected- info, even if the applicant doesn't have a high community status, or certain consideration for this data, so he will not go through legal inquiries for that.

●      Equality: All access requests for public information have been treated on the basis of equality and non-discrimination.
 

Freedom of Info Controls

Rights of individuals to access or obtain public information: 

●      The right to see or receive any unprotected info by general authorities.

●      The right to know the reason behind rejecting any access request.

●      The right to lodge a complaint against this rejection for access to the requested info.
 

Monsha’at Commitments:

Monshaat provides an application to access public info for individuals.

Monshaat checks individuals' IDs before giving them the right to access public info according to the accredited controls by Monshaat, National Cybersecurity Authority, and related authorities.

Monshaat documents all access applications in a record with decisions made for, to be checked avoiding any abuse or lack of response.

Monshaat should notify the individual -in an appropriate manner- in case of rejecting his application totally or partially, clarifying the rejection reasons, the complaint right, and how to use this right within 15 days.
 

FAQs

What does freedom of information mean?

It refers to public, non-protected information that Monsha’at processes, regardless of its source, format, or nature. Open data falls under public information. Freedom of information means making public data accessible to individuals in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
 

What rights do individuals have regarding access to or obtaining public information?

●      The right to access and obtain any non-protected information held by a public entity.

●      The right to know the reason if a request to access or obtain information is denied.

●      The right to appeal a decision denying access to, or the provision of, the requested information.

What information can be requested, and what is excluded?

This policy applies to all requests for access to non-protected information produced by Monsha’at, regardless of its source, format, or nature, with the aim of improving work efficiency and maximizing the benefits of data.

The policy does not cover protected information, which includes, but is not limited to:

●      Information whose disclosure could harm national security, state policy, interests, or rights.

●      Military or security information.

●      Information and documents obtained under agreements with other countries that are classified as protected.

●      Investigations, inquiries, enforcement actions, inspections, or monitoring related to crimes, violations, or threats.

●      Information containing recommendations, proposals, or consultations for legislation or government decisions not yet issued.

●      Commercial, industrial, financial, or economic information whose disclosure could lead to unfair profit or loss.

●      Scientific or technical research, or intellectual property rights, whose disclosure could infringe moral rights.

●      Information related to competitions, bids, or tenders that could compromise fair competition if disclosed.

●      Information considered confidential or personal under other laws, or information requiring specific legal procedures to access or obtain.