Volunteer Support Germany-Austria-Switzerland/Refunds for government requests
| This page is a translation of de:WP:Förderung/Gebührenerstattungen für Behördenanfragen. It gives an overview of the support programs for volunteers residing in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol. The translation is for information purposes only. Addressed volunteers may use the original page. Last update: March 2019 |
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Refunds for government requests
Government agencies have a wealth of data and information that may be relevant to Wikipedia and its sister projects. According to the freedom of information law in Germany, all citizens may request information from German authorities at the federal level and in most states without specifying why. In Austria, there is a similar regulation for Austrian authorities under the information disclosure law. Simple requests to government agencies are usually free. However, fees may apply for long processing times or printing. You can be reimbursed for these charges through Wikimedia organizations. The only prerequisite is that the obtained information benefits the Wikimedia projects.
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Offer
Wikimedia Deutschland initially provides a maximum of 5000 euros to reimburse fees charged by German authorities for requests under the freedom of information law. Detailed information on the provisions in the individual federal states or public institutions which are exempt from the obligation to disclose information can be found at fragdenstaat.de.
Examples of successful fee-based requests under the freedom of information law (without support from Wikimedia Deutschland):
- Request to the statistical office Statistikamt Nord for geo-referenced data of the construction blocks, incl. population figures, for Hamburg, fee: 55 euros
- Request to the senate administration for urban development and environment concerning building modular shelters for refugees, fee: 70 euros
- Request to the district office Hamburg-Nord about the number of objections that have been submitted in Hamburg-Nord within the scope of the public’s participation in the development plan process, fee: 180 euros
Placing a request
Use the portal FragdenStaat.de to place a request with the German authority you believe has the information you require. Fragdenstaat.de is a project of the Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland. The portal allows you to request information from German authorities in a simple and straightforward manner. Here, you can also publicly document your request and the received response. Please first ask the authority whether it has the required information and what the associated costs for obtaining it are. At fragdenstaat.de, the request form includes a suggested text, according to which the authority should inform you whether the requested involves simple information that is free of charge. Now, you will either receive information from the authority at no cost or an initial fee notification. If you believe that the fee notification is not justified, you can preemptively appeal. A possible rejection of the appeal costs 30 euros, which can be reimbursed after prior consultation with Wikimedia Deutschland. Individual cases must also be reviewed first for potential support with legal proceedings. Here, you are encouraged to contact Wikimedia Deutschland beforehand in a timely manner. The paragraph below explains how you can get a refund for any incurred costs.
Flyer
The flyer for the support program in Germany can be found here. (printable version)
Offer
Wikimedia Österreich provides a total budget of 500 euros for charges incurred through requests made to Austrian authorities. A list of authorities can be found at fragdenstaat.at.
Placing a request
Use the portal FragDenStaat.at to place a request with the Austrian authority you believe has the information you require. Fragdenstaat.at is operated by the Forum Informationsfreiheit. Here, you can request information from the authorities in a simple and straightforward manner and publicly document your request and the received response.
If a fee is required as part of the information request – e.g. if your request was (partially) denied and you want to apply for a corresponding notice – we can reimburse you for this charge.
Reimbursement
You do not need to contact a Wikimedia organization in the instance of a free request. If the government agency notifies you that your request will incur costs and you would like to have the charge reimbursed, send an e-mail to the responsible Wikimedia organization indicated below before proceeding with the request. Explain in the e-mail what information you need, how it will be incorporated into the Wikimedia projects, and the total amount of the applicable fees. If you receive a positive response, the costs will be reimbursed and you can go forward with your request for information from authorities.
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For requests subject to charges through FragDenStaat.de, please proceed as described above and send an e-mail to Wikimedia Deutschland: community@wikimedia.de. If fees of 500 euros or more are incurred, a proposal with a project plan is required in accordance with the support guidelines. When uploading documents to Wikimedia Commons, please note the instructions provided [[Commons:Category:Supported by Wikimedia Deutschland|here]. Send the receipts along with the reimbursement form no later than one month after the costs have been incurred:
The support guidelines of Wikimedia Deutschland apply. |
For requests subject to charges through FragDenStaat.at, please proceed as described above and send an e-mail to Wikimedia Österreich: verein@wikimedia.at. When uploading the documents to Wikimedia Commons, please use the tamplate Bitte füge {{Supported by Wikimedia Österreich}} on the respective file description pages. Send copies of the receipts to verein@wikimedia.at or the original receipts by mail to:
The support guidelines of Wikimedia Österreich apply.
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Making available the results
In order for the answer to be linked in Wikipedia or its related projects as a reference, it must be made public. Therefore, please document the answer you received at FragDenStaat.de or FragDenStaat.at and upload the obtained documents to Wikimedia Commons (if this is legally permissible). Official works are generally excluded from copyright protection in Germany and Austria. If you are unsure about any legal questions, you can ask the community beforehand about copyright issues here (in German) .
Documentation
Please document your supported requests. Create a subpage in your user namespace and link to them here. This is important for demonstrating the benefit of the support program. It also enables other contributors to find you as a contact person.
Tips
- Numerous requests have already been documented on fragdenstaat.de and fragdenstaat.at. You may already be able to find information of interest there that you can incorporate into Wikipedia.
- Please note Wikipedia:No original research.