The post make a couple of interesting points, which upon further analysis show that we have moved away from DPA or FOIA to a discussion of organisational culture.
The first point is about HR becoming an arm of management, which is the fate of Information Management. I doubt that is the case because HR (strictly understood) is a fulfilment (theoretically speaking) of the essence of technology within the modern world. The human person becomes a resource rather than something intrinsically unique. However, I digress.
The second point is that the post suggest HR is "captured" by the organisation and become an “arm of management”, which is the fate of information management, which covers FOIA, DPA and access to information. I would suggest that this is a function of whether it has external customers. FOIA and DPA link the public and the organisation. As such, they are less likely to face "organisational capture" as a service. In a sense, FOIA and DPA will never fully be captured nor be fully free of "organisational capture" simply because they exist within an organisation. However, we are moving away from DPA and FOIA to the main (only?) of the post, which was organisational culture.
If we follow that line of thought we see that the issue is whether and how individuals deal with or experience "organisational capture" and is not about DPA or FOIA. How FOIA and DPA are translated within the organisation will reflect, to the extent that any service reflects the culture that sets its context, the culture of the organisation. To that extent, the issue is more about (perhaps only about) organisational culture rather than FOIA or DPA. To put it differently, but directly, the dog wags the tail, which is not something FOIA or DPA can change.
The underlying tension, which will always exist within any bureaucracy, is between transparency and blame avoidance. Professor Hood has explained and explored this tension in his excellent work. http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=hood+what+happens+when+transparency+meets+blame-avoidance&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.votainteligente.cl%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_phocadownload%26view%3Dcategory%26id%3D6%3Adocumentos%26download%3D10%3Awhat-happens-when-transparency-meets-blame-avoidance%26Itemid%3D93&ei=ObBRUNiSCYeY1AWg54DIBQ&usg=AFQjCNGZePR0J_jwMh9Yl0nGXBkDO2Ue-g
In the end, we return to the main point raised by the post, which is about organisational culture rather than data protection or freedom of information. The post boils down to the point that FOI responses and DPA responses will reflect the culture of the organisation within which they operate. If we know that FOIA and DPA exist within an organisational context which is shaped and set by the organisational culture, we realize that neither FOIA or DPA are the issue. Instead, the question to ask is “What is your organisational culture?” The question is not one that FOIA or DPA are designed to answer so the answer has to be found elsewhere.
The answers to the questions implicit and explicit to the post will be found through a different medium or forum of which FOIA and DPA will only play a secondary or tertiary role.
Lawrence Serewicz
Principal Information Management Officer
Durham County Council
Room 4/140
County Hall
County Durham
DH1 5UF
03000 268038