Over seventy countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation, which sets rules on access to information or records held by government bodies. In general, such laws define a legal process by which government information is available to the public; In many countries there are vague constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused unless specific legislation to support them.

These laws may also be described as open records or (especially in the United States) sunshine laws (alluding to "letting light shine" on the process). A related concept is open meetings legislation, which allows the public access to government meetings, not just to the records of them. In many countries, privacy or data protection laws may be part of the freedom of information legislation; the concepts are often closely tied together in political discourse.

This information applies to the State of Virginia, and Fairfax County, can be found at the links below: