OpenTheGovernment.org | Americans for Less Secrecy, More DemocracyOpenTheGovernment.org seeks to advance the public's right to know and to reduce secrec

Sunshine Week 2012 Discussion - Secrecy, Disclosure and the Risks for Security and Accountability

All too often government openness and national security are thought of as opposing national interests and values. In reality, though, openness and security are not always in contention. On Friday, March 16 we hosted two panels of experts to dicuss the practice and policy keeping and telling secrets in America.

03/29/2012

The Public Needs a FOIA Portal

In a recent letter we and several of our partners sent to the Administration, we said that the FOIA Portal under development by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with assistance from the Department of Commerce and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is the "best hope for improving the administration’s compliance with the FOIA and affording the public the broadest access to government documents." Here are some of the reasons we think the public needs the FOIA Portal:

03/27/2012

Coming Soon to an Agency Near You: Open Gov Plan 2.0

In the coming weeks agencies will begin releasing "Version 2" of the Open Government Plans. The original Open Government Directive (OGD) plans, released in April 2010, were described by the Administration as "living documents" that agencies should regularly revisit and are required to update every two years. In the revamped plans, agencies are to develop initiatives and provide concrete timelines for building openness, participation, and collaboration into the way they operate.

03/23/2012

Policy and News Updates for March 20, 2012

In This Issue:
News from Coalition Partners & Others
I. House Hearing on FOIA Portal Scheduled for Tomorrow
II. Partners Join in Call to Declassify NIE on Afghanistan
III. Cybersecurity Bills Threaten Public Access to Information, Accountability

03/20/2012

Sunshine Week 2012- DC Area Events

Sunshine Week is an initiative of the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to promote a dialogue about the importance of the public's right to know what its government is doing, and why. The celebration coincides with National Freedom of Information (FOI) Day and James Madison's birthday on March 16. Read More for a listing of DC-Area 2012 Sunshine Week Events.

03/15/2012

Cybersecurity Bills Threaten Public Access to Information, Accountability

Organizations concerned with open government and accountability have rallied in opposition to provisions in cybersecurity bills recently introduced in the Senate that would unduly cut off public access to information that may be critical to public health and safety.

03/13/2012

Senate Sunshine Week Hearing Examines Public's Right to Know

In recent months, our community has been working to fight off various attempts by agencies to get broad new authorities to withhold information from the public. On Tuesday March 13, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing exploring the government's legitimate need to protect certain information and the public's right to know. The Committee's broad oversight of the government's efforts to protect sensitive information and the public interest in disclosure of information that is critical to public health and safety is a welcome occurrence, and comes at a critical time.

03/13/2012

Ethics.gov Launched by White House

On Thursday, 8 March, the White House announced the launch of Ethics.gov. The site, which is actually a Community on Data.gov, brings together and makes searchable the records of seven different databases:

03/08/2012

Groups to Obama: Reject "Unprecedented Level of Secrecy" in Trade Negotiation

More than 20 organizations concerned with openness, scientific integrity, and accountability joined OpenTheGovernment.org is sending a letter to President Obama urging him to increase the transparency of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiating process.

02/27/2012

Groups Protest CIA’s Covert Attack on Public Access

WASHINGTON, February 23, 2012 – More than 30 organizations joined the National Security Archive and OpenTheGovernment.org in protesting the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) recent decision to charge the public outrageous fees for the opportunity to challenge secrecy claims. The fees, which can run requesters up to $72 per hour even if no information is found or released, effectively cut off access to a system that researchers, historians, public interest advocates and others have used successfully to challenge the CIA's extreme secrecy -- the Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR) process.

02/23/2012

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