Case study: Free The Postcode
As part of our work on the Community Campaigns on Data: Campaigners Toolkit we have identified a series of case studies that provide an insight into how data is a key component of campaigns.
In 2009 the civic technology community faced high costs in accessing postcode data which was essential to build online tools connecting people to local services or political action. A key dataset - mapping postcodes to locations - was collected and owned by public bodies, but only available for a fee. Campaigners tried to create a grassroots alternative dataset, free of intellectual property restrictions - but this was a laborious process.
In order to secure access to the official data, a loose coalition of campaigners wrote media articles, talked to politicians, and organised an effective civil disobedience stunt. They created a free website hosting an unofficial copy of the postcode dataset (technically breaching the law), and named the site after the Minister who originally launched postcodes (Ernest Marples). They wired up high-profile civic websites to rely on this unofficial service, so when the official custodian of the postcode data took legal action to shut it down, these useful civic services went offline too. This gave campaigners fuel for a higher-profile media campaign about the problems of closed data. A petition on the government website gained 2,335 signatories.
In May 2010, postcode data was made available as open data (although address data remains closed).
You can view the archive of the website, by Harry Metcalfe and Richard Pope as it was at the beginning and at the end. Their blog lives on too.
Campaign type: Data access (open data)
Ultimate goals: Provide affordable public good technology services; unlock social and economic potential of data.
Communities involved: Civic technology community; users of public services.
Organisation: Informal coalition.
Methods used: Media, petitions, stunts, civil disobedience.
If you’re interested in community campaigns on data you can read more about our catalysing work and contact us