“You can tell by the way complaints or requests are worded that they have used AI technology to be able to ask for that information,” he said

“You say that as if it is a bad thing.”

Lincolnshire County Council says AI behind rise in FOI requests – BBC News:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx21z6g2421o

Via Owen’s thread at:

https://twitter.com/owenboswarva/status/2061038401055322337?s=20

Who are the actors in the UK's 2015 passport?

I got nerdsniped by a bloody Reddit post!

In 2015, the UK Government launched a new passport design. It immediately attracted negative press for its designers' "sexist" decision to feature more men than women.

The government has been accused of sexism over the new UK passport design, which commemorates the achievements of two women but seven men.

It's true that there are only two named women - but there is another unnamed woman on the passport! Here's the "Performing Arts" page:

Shakespeare stares down at his Wooden O. Half the page is a stage, and the men and woman merely players.

Here they are in a bit more detail:

Who are they? They look like reasonably modern photos rather than portraits. They're not obviously famous. None of the press at the time mentioned who they were. No stock photography library had anything similar that I could see. Your favourite AI thought one of them was Doctor Who and the other a Congressman from Nantucket.

The official document describing the design simply says:

On the left hand side there is an image of the interior of the theatre, with a play in progress.

I scanned in an old passport to get the faces in as much detail as possible. All three of them look like jobbing actors who you probably saw in a schools' production of Twelfth Night, don't they?

I couldn't find anything about them online. I asked my investigative-minded friends but they drew a blank.

I even sent a Freedom of Information request to the Passport Office.

They refused on grounds of GDPR, but they did say:

However, we can disclose the photographs of the individuals appearing on the passport page captured by a photographer employed by a supplier contracted to HM Passport Office.

So, if you're one of the actors / models - or know who they are - please drop a note in the box below!

🆕 blog! “Who are the actors in the UK's 2015 passport?”

I got nerdsniped by a bloody Reddit post!

In 2015, the UK Government launched a new passport design. It immediately attracted negative press for its designers' "sexist" decision to feature more men than women.

The government has been accused of sexism over the new UK passport design, which…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/who-are-the-actors-in-the-uks-2015-passport/
⸻
#FoI #government #sexism #shakespeare

Dans les trésors de l’Église : le grand inventaire du patrimoine catholique français

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.valeursactuelles.com/clubvaleurs/culture/les-tresors-oublies-de-la-foi

True security in a system is impossible without #transparency, including free access to the source code. #SecurityByObscurity is a sham, a dangerous lie.

Services Australia is, on that false basis, arguing against release of the #myGov “code generator” source code. A system we must use, that is paid for by #Australia funds and rightly owned by all of us.

Support Fraser Tweedale @hackuador court battle to free this public system, and make it accountable and secure for all of us.

https://chuffed.org/project/mygov-app-source-code-foi-review

#AusPol #FreedomOfInformation #FoI #FreeSoftware

🆕 blog! “The UK Government's Low Value Purchase System is a Waste of Time”

It can be hard running a small business. If you want to sell to a large organisation like the UK Government, there are forms to fill in, checks to comply with, tenders to bid on, and a hundred other things.

Luckily, there's the RM6237 Low Value Purchase System…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/05/the-uk-governments-low-value-purchase-system-is-a-waste-of-time/
⸻
#FoI #government #rant #statistics

The UK Government's Low Value Purchase System is a Waste of Time

It can be hard running a small business. If you want to sell to a large organisation like the UK Government, there are forms to fill in, checks to comply with, tenders to bid on, and a hundred other things.

Luckily, there's the RM6237 Low Value Purchase System to make everything better. If a department wants to buy something below a certain threshold, they can contact any of the registered suppliers and just buy it. No complicated paperwork, cheaper prices, win-win!

Except, there's on annoying bit of bureaucracy. Every month I have to tell the Government Commercial Agency what business I've done.

Fair enough, I guess. Let them know how many paperclips I've sold to the Ministry of Administrative Affairs.

But there's a wrinkle. What if I've sold nothing? Well, I still have to log on, wait for an MFA code to be send, click through, and report "No Business".

I think that's a waste of time. But I wondered how much time it collectively wastes for the nation's small businesses.

So I filed a Freedom of Information request to see how many people have to sign in to let them know they haven't done any business. They replied quickly - although sent the data as a PDF rather than the requested machine-readable format.

Here's how much of a waste of time it is for everyone:

Even if you assume that it only takes 2 minutes to fill in their form, that's over 2 days worth of time being wasted every month.

At best, 59 small businesses reported that they sold something via RM6237. Well over a thousand businesses are clicking on a button which, frankly, ought not to exist. Why isn't the onus on those buying using the system to report what they've spent and who they spent it with?

After clicking the button, I'm always asked to rate my experience using the service. I FoI'd that data as well but was told:

This information is not held. Feedback scores submitted are anonymised and only available as a service-wide view; consequently, we do not capture or hold results specific to RM6237

So the GCA are wasting everyone's time and do not track how annoying it is.

Thanks so much to the supporters who joined my #myGov #FOI Q&A / meet + greet tonight. Your interest, encouragement and financial support mean more than I can put into words.

More updates to come next week!

END SECURITY BY OBSCURITY
https://openmygov.au/