Methodology
How we check.
Public data only, checked before we use it, and corrected when we get it wrong.
Public data only
We use records anyone can open without an account: downloads and pages that government agencies and other organizations publish for the public. We don't sign in, sign up for keys, or work around a site that turns us away, and we don't use copies of a site that has.
How we check a source before we use it
- Can anyone open it? We confirm it opens logged out, with no account.
- Does the site allow automated reading? We read the site's rules for automated visitors (its robots.txt) and keep to the pace it asks for.
- What do its terms say? We read the publisher's terms and note what they say about reuse.
- Two separate ratings. Each source is rated once for whether we can use it at all, and again for whether we can publish from it. Some sources we hold back from publishing until they've been reviewed; some we don't use.
- What exactly is there. We record the file sizes, when the files last changed, and how often the publisher says they update.
- The publisher's own caveats. Where a publisher warns about gaps or limits in its data, that warning goes with any finding built on it.
What we write about
Findings are about organizations and public bodies, not private people. Every finding is reviewed before it is published, and each one names its source.
Report a correction
If you think something we published is wrong, email support@minakilabs.com. Tell us the page, what you believe is wrong, and, if you can, a link to the public record that shows it.