Access My Info

AMI is a web application that helps people to create legal requests for copies of their personal information from data operators. AMI is a step-by-step wizard that results in the generation of a personalized formal letter requesting access to the information that an operator stores and utilizes about a person.

Note: This is a placeholder application meant to be customized. It is not the code repository for the AMI Canada or AMI Hong Kong implementations. For a full guide on running an Access My Info campaign, check out https://accessmyinfo.org.

Installation

AMI is for the most part, a static HTML website. Any webserver that can serve HTML files should be capable of serving AMI.

If you want to track the number of requests created, you will need PHP and MYSQL on your server as well.

Static App

The AMI app lives in the static folder. The app is compiled upon page load by JavaScript that looks at the contents of the js/data.js file. It then scans static/index.html to identify special HTML templates, then does some business logic to populate the templates with the contents of the data model.

If you wish to track statistics then you can remove the static/index.html file and use static/index.php instead.

Customization

As mentioned above, this codebase is for a placeholder application. You will see placeholder logos and references to {{YOUR ORG}} that you should replace with your own organization's information.

You should furthermore review the privacy policy in the footer of the website and make any necessary updates as required by your local jurisdiction.

Data Model

The data.js file includes the structured information for the application.

This includes a list of industries, companies, information categories, and personal identifiers.

Industries are the types of businesses or organizations that users start their request by selecting. Industries must have a name, id, description, and icon.

Companies are the organizations to which the user sends a request. Companies must have a name, id, logo, contact, and be assigned an industry. Company contact information must at least have the following attributes: title, has_mail, has_email. has_mail and has_email should be set to true or false. One of them must be true at least. If has_mail is true, then the company contact object must also have address1, address2, city, region, postalcode, and country defined. If has_email is true, then email must also be set and include a valid email address.

Info Categories are the types of personal information that companies might hold on people, and that users can include in their request letters. Each info categories must have the following: name, id, description, and be assigned one or more industries. industries is an array, so even if one industry is assigned, it would have to look like this ["industry1"].

Personal Identifiers are included in a request so the company can find the requester in their records. Personal identifiers must have the following attributes: name, id, description, and be assigned one or more industries. industries is an array, so even if one industry is assigned, it would have to look like this ["industry1"]. Personal identifiers may also include an options attribute. This will allow the user to choose from a list of options for a particular identifier (like province of residence). options must be an array of objects, with each object having the id and name attributes. For example: "options": [{"id": "first", "name": "First Option"}]

Editing the frontend

There are lots of comments throughout index.php and js/ami/*.js files to help you along with customizing the look and feel. Have fun!

If you don't want to use stats or don't have a PHP webserver, simply rename index.php to index.html and remove all <?php ..... ?> stuff (top of file and near bottom), following the instructions in the comments.

Statistics

To track statistics, you will need a PHP web server with a MYSQL database.

The statistics code lives in the stats folder.

index.php displays a simple table of how many stats each company has received.

process_request.php is the file that the frontend sends its statistics form data to. You will have to configure index.php to point to the right URL, following the comments in the last script block at the bottom of the page.

It's best practice to move the private folder out of the webroot or add an .htaccess file to the folder to make it private. These files should not be accessible on the public internet for security reasons.

Installation

Create a new MYSQL database for tracking stats.

Copy stats/private/db/db_connection_template.php tostats/private/db/db_connection.php, and edit the new file to point to that new database, and edit the credentials as needed.

Execute the install.sql command in PHPMyAdmin or through command line. THis will create the required database tables.