Like Mark explained last week, we are closely watching the search strings and IP addresses of visitors. Today another one popped up. On Friday I submitted an FOI request to the Comptroller & Auditor General, located at the Treasury Building in Dublin. They would have received my request today.
And today this search:
Search Engine Phrase “gavin sheridan”
Search Engine Name Google
Search Engine Host www.google.ie
Host Name h137-191-239-45.gn.gov.ie
IP Address 137.191.239.45 [Label IP Address]
Country Ireland
Region Dublin
City Dublin
ISP Treasury Bldg
Returning Visits 0
Visit Length 2 mins 59 secs
VISITOR SYSTEM SPECS
Browser IE 7.0
Operating System WinXP
Resolution 1024×768
Javascript Enabled
It is certainly interesting. I would imagine it is curiosity, or perhaps even a desire to know the purpose of my request. However, it is also worth noting Section 8 (4) of the Freedom of Information Act:
Subject to the provisions of this Act, in deciding In deciding whether to grant or refuse to grant a request under section 7:
(a) any reason that the requester gives for the request, and
(b) any belief or opinion of the head as to what are the reasons of the requester for
the request,shall be disregarded.
Searching for who I am after my request has been submitted is a curious one. Legally, the reasons for my request are irrelevant to the Deciding officer or the FOI officer.
The C&AG is located in Dublin Castle.
The State Claims Agency/NTMA are in the Treasury building.
C&AG is at the Treasury Building/Block in Dublin Castle. I do not think the IP address of the Treasury Building/NTMA would show as gov.ie, but I could be mistaken. No FOIs in with NTMA either, since they are not subject to FOI. In addition, a search was done on this website relating directly to the FOI I submitted to the C&AG, from the same IP.
Big Brother is watching indeed
I suggest you add a privacy policy to your site. Keep it short stating that any information you can glean from,or about, your site users may be made public.
Will do.