In converstation today, a friend mentioned to me that if anyone requested his employer's site's server logs, citing the UKs Freedom Of Information act, there'd be a good chance they'd have to comply and give them. My understanding is the act applies to Public authourities and some broadcasters in the UK. Now, that got me thinking, there has to be some possible uses for this to gain marketing knowledge to give you a competitive edge. I'm thinking along the lines of tailoring local sites. A lot of this is hyperthetical and untested by myself, I'm just throwing it out as an idea. i.e. Cardiffsbury By Sea Council relinquish their server logs to my request - from which I'm able to see what search terms and services are popular in that locality. From there, I can deduce some keywords and services that I could affiliate and sell on a local level via a web site that has a good idea of what search terms to market for. That's one use that struck me - I was wondering if anyone else had tried for server logs, or has any other possible ideas for great uses and marketing possibilities?
Requesting information through the use of the Freedom Of Information Act, at least in Canada is a little tricky. You can't just request information for the hell of it, you need provide a reason why you are requesting it. It is also at the discretion of the entity providing the information to charge a fee for the preparation of the information. In Canada it is called the Freedom Of Information and Privacy Act (FOIP). Note PRIVACY. I have requested and ppl have requested of me information. In my particular situation a vendor who lost a bid requested a copy of the winning bid. There is a provision in the act that allows you to limit (blackout) information that is deemed competitive in nature. So when I provided the information to the losing vendor I blacked-out all the dollar values but left everything intact. I also blacked out specific names of individuals that would be assigned to the project. Usually there is a FOIP administrator that reviews the requests, if he/she deems the request for that information to be questionable or invalid, they can decline your request. You would then need to appeal that request to their regional ombudsman (basically a civic overseer).