The British government has been accused of breaching Freedom of Information Act by enforcing a system that automatically deletes emails sent from Downing Street.
Transparency activists say the system has been implemented to prevent information from being released to the public through freedom of information requests.
According to the Independent, a former permanent secretary has disclosed that the automated deletion system was set up just weeks ahead of the enforcement of Freedom of Information Act came into effect in January 2005.
A government official has claimed that it was a coincidence and the automated deletion system had nothing to do with Freedom of Information Act
But, Maurice Frankel, director of the UK Campaign for Freedom of Information, insists that the timing “very strongly indicates that it was not a coincidence”.