Reducing Secrecy

DOJ Beats Out "Crowded Field" to Win National Security Archive's Rosemary Award

The National Security Archive announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is the recipient of the infamous Rosemary Award for worst open government performance over the past year. The award is named after President Nixon's secretary, Rose Mary Woods, who erased 18 1/2 minutes of a crucial Watergate tape.

02/21/2012

CIA Charging the Public Outrageous Fees for the Opportunity to Question Secrecy

On 23 September 2011, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with no notice or public comment, decreed that the public will now have to pay outrageous fees to have Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) requests processed.

02/21/2012

DOJ Cited for Contempt of Openness by National Security Archive, Wins Rosemary Award

The Department of Justice was awarded the 2012 Rosemary Award by the National Security Archive -- for a multi-count indictment of Justice's transparency performance in 2011, including:

02/15/2012

CIA Changes the Rules Allowing the Public to Challenge Secrecy

Recently our friends over at the National Security Archive alerted us to a few pages in the Federal Register that describe the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) latest efforts to to stymie public access to information they want to keep secret.

02/10/2012

OpenTheGovernment.org and CREW Release Analysis of Effect of Obama FOIA Policy

An analysis released in late December by CREW and OpenTheGovernment.org of data collected by the government on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processing reveals challenges the Obama Administration must overcome to create the "unprecedented level of openness" President Obama promised on his first day in office.

01/10/2012

Admin Releases "Post-Wikileaks" EO to Improve Security of Classified Networks - And Protect Civil Liberties?

Last Friday the Administration released a new Executive Order (EO) on Structural Reforms to Improve the Security of Classified Networks and the Responsible Sharing and Safeguarding of Classified Information. The EO represents the Administration's approach to preventing future disclosures of classified information like the troves of national security material posted to WikiLeaks last year.

10/11/2011

National Security Secrecy at the Literal Expense of Openness

Among the statistics included in the recently-released 2011 Secrecy Report is this gem: according to publicly available data the federal government spent $201 creating and securing old secrets for every tax dollar spent declassifying in 2010.

09/08/2011

Working to Make DoD More Trustworthy

Back in June, we wrote about "Why We Shouldn't Trust DOD to Tell Us What We Need to Know" and our work with Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). Since then, we have had some positive developments in the Senate. We sent a letter urging Senators to support an amendment by Senator Leahy.

08/15/2011

Overclassification: Still Making Us Less Secure and More Secretive

All too often government openness and national security are thought of as counterbalancing national interests. Despite this "conventional wisdom," there are plenty of instances where less secrecy actually makes us more secure. The classic example of this countervailing wisdom at work is overclassification. By lumping useless information in with information that really needs to be protected, we degrade the integrity of the system - leading to more leaks and other costly outcomes. Oh, and- speaking of costly- we waste precious resources protecting that useless information.

06/28/2011

Whistleblowers Need Protection, Not Prosecution

OpenTheGovernment.org welcomes the recent news that as a result of a plea bargain Thomas Drake, a former senior executive at the National Security Agency (NSA) who blew the whistle through proper government channels on massive fraud, waste and abuse within the NSA, may not have to spend any time in jail. However, Mr. Drake's aggressive prosecution by the Bush and Obama Administrations remains a stark reminder of the extreme dangers to patriotic public employees created by a "zero tolerance" policy towards "leakers."

06/14/2011

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