Civio works to make the public sector truly public. Through their investigative journalism and advocacy, they call for more transparent governments and institutions, help better-inform people.
With this grant, Civio will continue working to secure accountability and transparency in AI systems deployed across Spain’s public administration.
Through investigative journalism, Civio will expose how algorithmic decisions impact citizens’ fundamental rights—from biased healthcare diagnostics to discriminatory risk assessment tools—translating complex technical issues into accessible stories that reach broad audiences through collaboration with major media outlets.
Civio will also advocate for concrete policy reforms, like a national algorithmic register, and pursue strategic litigation to establish legal precedents for algorithmic transparency, building on their BOSCO case Supreme Court victory.
Civio used investigative journalism with transparent methodologies, combined with their knowledge of access to information, litigation and public procurement to look closely at the public healthcare and welfare systems in Spain. Their first exploration has shown AI systems being used without anyone having a registry of them. Their investigation into the biased BOSCO welfare system won a Supreme Court victory for algorithm transparency.
This grant supported Civio to pursue long-term strategic litigation against the Spanish government, arguing that the algorithms that affect people, including their source code, need to be made public. Civio filed more than ten access to information requests about known AI/ADM systems in Spanish public administrations.
They used data journalism to raise awareness and explain the impacts of digitisation of public services to vulnerable people and were one of the founding organisations a coalition of Spanish civil society organisations working in AI topics: IA Ciudadana.
