[Ws2-transparency] WS2 Transparency Thematic Discussion: DIDP

[Michael Karanicolas]

Hi all,

Great chatting yesterday, and my apologies again for the technical
difficulties (but glad we were able to push through). As discussed, we will
now try and take this conversation forward through specific discussion
threads, so I am copying our current working document on DIDP below, to
hopefully start the conversation. I'll be sending along additional emails
for discussion on proactive disclosure and whistleblower protection
presently.

Best wishes, and I look forward to hearing your ideas,

Michael Karanicolas




*1.    **Improving ICANN’s Documentary Information Disclosure Policy (DIDP)*


*Themes:*

a.      Scope of transparency:

                                               i.     Do transparency
measures apply to the staff as well as the Board?

b.     Exceptions to disclosure

                                               i.     Overuse of exceptions

1.     Legal Privilege

                                              ii.     Overbreadth of
exceptions

1.     Information that relates in any way to the security and stability of
the Internet (no requirement for harm).

2.     Drafts of all correspondence, reports, documents, agreements,
contracts, emails, or any other forms of communication

3.     Confidential business information and/or internal policies and
procedures (needs further clarification).

4.     Information requests which are not reasonable, excessive or overly
burdensome, not feasible, abusive or vexatious or made by a vexatious or
querulous individual (needs further clarification)

5.     Trade secrets (needs further clarification)

                                            iii.     Confidentiality
clauses and contracting.

1.     DIDP blanket exception for information provided to a government or
international organization in the expectation that it would be kept
confidential

2.     How do these relate to disclosure of information both through the
DIDP and specifically to access by the Empowered Community or the ICANN
board

                                            iv.     Transparency of board
deliberations

1.     Over-classification – and need for a fair and effective system to
determine when discussions should be carried out in camera.

2.     When board deliberations are carried out in camera, consideration
should go towards only restricting their availability for a set period of
time.

                                              v.     Transparency of
interactions with governments

1.     Blanket exceptions for Information provided by or to a government or
international organization, or any form of recitation of such information,
in the expectation that the information will be kept confidential and/or
would or likely would materially prejudice ICANN's relationship with that
party. (need for clarification of how and why these assurances are
provided).

c.      Process for making requests

                                               i.     Timelines: 30 days
“to the extent feasible”. Need for a binding timeline, and need for
statistical tracking of timelines for response, in order to assess
performance.

d.     Appeals and Oversight of the System

                                               i.     There is a need for
strong independence in the review process, including an independent
appointments process, security of tenure, etc.

                                              ii.     There should be
timelines for the review process.

                                            iii.     The oversight body
should have a broader mandate to track and promote transparency in ICANN

e.      The public interest balancing test

                                               i.     Currently, the
“public interest” test in the DIDP allows for both disclosures in the
public interest, and for additional material to be withheld in the public
interest. The latter in incompatible with international better-practice
laws.
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