Freedom of information software built around police records.

CommonWatch is for the people who receive, search, redact and release police records under Ontario's Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA): the records manager, the FOI analysts and the clerks who handle routine releases.

It suits services that already work in Microsoft 365 and want FOI records, letters and the audit trail in a Microsoft environment they govern.

• Police exemption codes. Law enforcement under s. 8, including investigative techniques, officer safety and police codes; personal privacy under s. 14; and the own-file versions under s. 38. Each is one click on the review desk.
• Occurrence and collision reports. The everyday request, from the portal, email, mail or the front counter, entered with its date stamp.
• Insurers and lawyers. Fee estimates under Regulation 823, a fee ledger, and a clock that stops for a fee estimate under s. 45(3.2).
• Records held by another service. A transfer under s. 18 to the OPP or another police service, with its own notice to the requester.

The staff workspace covers intake, a seven-stage request file, delegated searches across units, the review desk, the legal clock, letters from approved templates, fees, third parties and appeals, retention with legal holds, and an audit trail that exports to Excel.

A different person approves every release, and the server refuses a release the preparer tries to approve. Releases are rebuilt from page images by an independent service, so hidden text, layers and metadata are not carried over and the original never changes.

CommonWatch installs as a managed solution on Microsoft Dataverse. Choose a Canadian region for the environment. Staff sign in with the Microsoft account they already use; Power Apps licences are separate from CommonWatch.

The requester portal and the release service are connected during onboarding. Migration from your current FOI system, integration with your records management system and training are scoped with your service. See the installation guide.

Bring your yearly request volume, the reports you release most, how you search other units today and who approves a release. We will walk those steps in the demonstration environment, which uses a fictional police service and fictional records.