New changes have been made to both the DocumentCloud and MuckRock APIs, including that and embargoes are now restructured.

The Data Liberation Project transparency initiative is joining MuckRock, where together with the data experts at Big Local News it will expand how the community of FOIA enthusiasts requests, documents and publishes data.

Public records are a cornerstone of government transparency and accountability.

DocumentCloud, supported by the Filecoin Foundation, is using the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) network and Filecoin to ensure long-term preservation and distribution of documents. IPFS’s decentralized nature enhances censorship resistance and privacy, while Filecoin provides incentives for data storage and sharing. DocumentCloud’s Push to IPFS Add-On facilitates easy integration with IPFS/Filecoin for secure and enduring document access.

Reporters for both organizations were present at the awards ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

August’s FOIA Friday session covered documents that are especially useful during the election season: personal financial disclosures, business interests and finances.

DocumentCloud has consolidated its documentation to include detailed guidance on customizing embeds and using the API to call Add-Ons. The MuckRock API received an update that allows you to add or remove collaborators from a FOIA request and to sort requests by datetime. The Legal Citations Add-On also now provides page numbers for citations found in each document.