From Wired:
When 22-year-old programmer Aaron Swartz decided last fall to help an open-government activist amass a public and free copy of millions of federal court records, he did not expect he’d end up with an FBI agent trying to stake out his house.
But that’s what happened, as Swartz found out this week when he got [...]
Archive of posts filed under the Freedom of Information category.
FBI Investigated Coder for Liberating Paywalled Court Records
Agencies will be expected to measure transparency results
From NextGov:
The forthcoming open government directive will dictate that each agency come up with a process for measuring the outcomes of transparency efforts, a top General Services Administration official said on Monday. The White House as soon as two weeks from now will issue a directive based on recommendations developed by the federal chief technology [...]
The Case for a National Declassification Center
From Secrecy News:
“Without reform in [declassification] policy and process, agencies will continue to spend millions of dollars each year perpetuating an ineffective and inefficient declassification system, while the backlog of records waiting to be processed for the open shelves continues to grow,” according to a newly obtained National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) white paper.
The [...]
Prompted by EFF Lawsuit, FBI (Partially) Releases Domestic Surveillance Guidelines
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a heavily censored version of its controversial Domestic Investigations and Operations Guidelines (DIOG), which became effective on December 1, 2008. EFF requested public disclosure of the guidelines under the Freedom of Information Act in December and, after more than six months passed with no [...]
83% Say Congress Should Post Bills Online For All To Read Before Voting On Them
From Rasmussen Reports:
Eighty-three percent (83%) of U.S. voters say legislation should be posted online in final form and available for everyone to read before Congress votes on it. The only exception would be for extreme emergencies.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds only six percent (6%) of voters disagree with this approach while 10% [...]
GAO Recovery Act Report Confirms Impending Data Quality Issues
From OMB Watch:
Last week, the Government Accountability Office released its third bimonthly report on the Recovery Act (GAO-09-1016). The report, which examines the Act’s implementation across the country, received a fair amount of press. Many of the articles focused on the speed of the Recovery Act spending (LINK to Biden), as the report noted that [...]
New Policy Marks First Step in Narrowing State Secrets Privilege
From OMB Watch:
On Sept. 23, the Justice Department released a new policy on use of the state secrets privilege. The policy, which parallels several related recommendations from the Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda, will be implemented on Oct. 1. The long-expected announcement drew mixed reactions from public interest groups, ranging from support to [...]
Openness has improved, but FOIA reform still needed
From Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
Despite President Barack Obama’s emphasis on running a more transparent government, federal agencies have been slow to adapt to changes in the law and the new openness directives, open government advocates testified during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.
The focus of the hearing was the Office of Government [...]
Report criticizes SEC’s compliance with FOIA
From Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press:
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Inspector General released a report on Friday that sharply criticized the agency’s compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.
The report, released just two years after an audit prompted reorganization of the commission’s FOIA processing system, shows an agency still struggling to [...]
These crusaders bring transparency to government
From the L.A. Times:
Government pooh-bahs live by the credo Information is Power. Here are a few of the guerrillas working to overthrow the resulting dictatorship.