Resource Center :
Policy :
Policy
This section provides background and analysis of various policies that could restrict the public's access to government information and infringe on their right to know important information.
Legislation Security Restrictions on Information
The federal government spends billions of dollars protecting information that should never have been classified and information that no longer needs to be classified. Additionally, the federal government has greatly expanded its ability to control unclassified, public information through vague restrictions that give government officials wide latitude to declare information beyond the public's reach. Such unchecked secrecy threatens accountability in government.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed by Congress in 1966 in order to create an open government by allowing for the full or partial disclosure of documents held by the federal government. In 1974 FOIA was amended to further the rights of an individual gaining access to information held by the government. In 1996, Congress passed the Electronic FOIA Act Amendments to make certain types of records available electronically. The most recent FOIA amendments, passed in 2007 (the OPEN Government Act), makes significant reforms to the FOIA process to institute accountability and created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to mediate disputes between FOIA requesters and the government. The FOIA applies only to federal agencies and does not create a right of access to records held by Congress, the courts, or by state or local government agencies. Each state has its own public access laws.
Digital Access
Federal policies for access to government information are outmoded, primarily based on the 1960's Freedom of Information Act. Digital technologies can and should be utilized by all branches of the federal government to make information created, collected, or maintained by or for the government accessible and usable by any member of the public at no-fee, and to ensure that permanent public access is maintained for permanently valuable information.
Congressional Transparency
Although Congress has made strides in recent years, much Congressional information is still completely hidden from the public, or made available in unusable forms, for no legitimate reason.
Executive Branch Accountability and Openness
Transparency is a tool to hold policy makers accountable. Our agenda to promote accountability and openness in the executive branch includes working to strengthen openness policies, improving fiscal transparency, and restoring and strengthening whistleblower protections.
