A contribution buys an attempt

Not a document, and not an outcome. Agencies refuse, delay, lose and destroy records, and every one of those outcomes is published here rather than refunded. Where a proposal is never filed, contributions are redirected or returned at the contributor’s choice.

Everything is published

By proposing, funding or commissioning a request you agree that the request, the correspondence and the documents will be published in full — including responses that undercut the theory that motivated it. The one exception is a paid embargo, whose terms are on the standard page.

What we will not file

The refusal policy is published at /refusals and applied at review. Reaching quorum obliges us to review a proposal; it does not oblige us to file it.

The documents

Records released under the Freedom of Information Act are generally works of the United States government and not subject to copyright. Aletheca’s own metadata — dispositions, scorecards, the request ledger — is published under CC0 and may be reused, including commercially, with or without attribution.

Questions: hello@aletheca.com.