mySociety news

January 2020

Climate

There's nothing more important

The survival of the planet matters more than anything. And we think that, like everyone else, mySociety has a part to play.

So, this year, above all else we'll be focusing on how our services can be used to face the challenge of the climate crisis.

mySociety Chief Exec Mark lays out our climate-focused direction for 2020 here.

Democracy

Thank you for your help keeping TheyWorkForYou going

It was our first crowdfunder, and we didn't know what to expect.

Turns out, more than 600 people care enough about TheyWorkForYou to help ensure its survival. Thanks to your generosity, we can keep the site running for another year — and make a few improvements too. We're very grateful.

Now make sure you use it!

What better way to show your appreciation than to subscribe to an email every time your MP speaks or votes? Full details on how to set it up (and why you really should) are in this post.

Events

TICTeC keynotes announced

TICTeC 2020 is all set to roll in Reykjavik this March, and we've just announced two stellar keynote speakers.

Nanjala Nyabola and Hollie Russon Gilman will kick off each day's proceedings with provocations, insights and inspiration based on their deep understanding of global politics and the effects wrought upon it by technology.

Read more about Nanjala's work here, and find out about Hollie's here.

Transparency

Fact-checking with FOI

When misinformation is rife, and modern technologies spread it faster than it can be denied, what recourse do we have?

One useful tool is Freedom of Information, which people are deploying as a fact-checker when they come across dubious content — like a rumour about muslims not having to pay council tax.

When your FOI request doesn't get an answer

We've made some small changes around how WhatDoTheyKnow prompts you, if your FOI request hasn't received a response within the statutory period of 20 working days. Read about them here.

Community

FixMyStreet for TfL is live

Londoners now have an altogether more joined-up street reporting system for the capital, thanks to the new FixMyStreet-based Street Care service, now up and running!

Moving on up

New funding is allowing us to take forward the digital tool we prototyped, with an aim of empowering tower block residents. See more here.

A year of FixMyStreet

Looking back on 2019, it's been a quite remarkable 12 months for FixMyStreet, with more councils adopting us as their official system than ever before. Fly through FixMyStreet's amazing year in this post.

Don't miss

Did you catch our Annual Report?

We hope so — because you wouldn't want to miss this rundown of everything mySociety did in 2019, through the medium of tweets, links and photos... lots of photos. Your five minute refresher starts here.

What we're reading

What happens to MPs when they lose their seats? They have just a few days to clear their desks.
Meanwhile, for the new recruits and returners to Parliament: what exactly do they have to go through before getting down to business?
DataLobo plunges into Twitter with an analysis of MPs' external earnings. They're also publishing their data crunching on a website.
A whistleblower portal for anyone with critical but job-endangering information about forces behind the climate emergency.
Worried about honesty in political advertising? This one's for you.
'Admirable pedantry' was one mySociety team member's take on this in-depth assessment of an emoji.

Did you know that you can subscribe to our special interest newsletters too? Get an extra monthly bulletin on Democracy & Campaigning, Freedom of Information, Better Cities & Councils, or Research. Pick and choose your mySociety newsletters here.