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Transparency

Ensuring that people can clearly see how a digital product, platform, service, or infrastructure works – who owns and runs it, how decisions are made, and what it does with the information it holds, and on whose behalf, without them needing to make a request for information

Transparency means that a person using a public-serving digital product or service can understand, without specialist knowledge and without having to ask, what the service is doing, how it works, why it operates in the way it does, and in whose interests it acts. Transparency is making the operation of power, decision-making, and data use visible to the people affected by them, not only to specialists, regulators, or lawyers.

For a public-serving entity, Transparency means publishing clear and current information about who owns, operates, governs, and funds a service, together with understandable explanations of its rules, policies, decision-making processes, and significant digital systems. It means explaining what information and data are collected, why they are collected, how they are used, how long they are retained, and with whom they are shared.

It means disclosing the use of automated systems where they materially affect users, identifying significant third-party tools or services involved in operating the platform, and publishing meaningful records of important policy changes, complaints, failures, and corrective actions. Changes to these disclosures should themselves remain visible over time, so that people can see what has changed, when it changed, and why.

Example requirements (illustrative)

These example requirements are grounded in established international standards, regulations, and laws, which are listed in full in the section below.

  • Organisations publish clear information about ownership, governance, funding, and responsibility for digital services and infrastructure.

  • Terms of service, moderation rules, and enforcement processes are published in clear, and understandable language.

  • Major policy changes affecting people are communicated publicly before implementation, with reasonable opportunity for feedback or scrutiny.

  • Organisations publish regular transparency reports covering complaints, enforcement actions, service failures, removals, and significant operational incidents.

  • Records of significant decisions, governance actions, and public-interest policies are retained and accessible for inspection.

  • Information needed for public understanding, scrutiny, or accountability is published proactively wherever possible, rather than released only upon request.

Standards, regulations, and laws informing this work

Organisations working in this area

Related standards: Responsibility to the Future Interoperability