Open the Government

Data Breaches Spotlight Need for Greater Contractor Oversight by Congress

Americans are once again reading about another massive data breach that affects their privacy. This week, Capital One went public with a credit file breach affecting more than 100 million Americans and six million Canadians. Equifax recently agreed to pay $575 million of the fine it received from the Federal Trade Commission for a 2017

New Bipartisan FOIA Bill Punches Back at Attacks

Bill will protect public access to information from private entities that do business with the government following Supreme Court decision. The new Open and Responsive Government Act of 2019, introduced today, is intended to put the public’s interest ahead of corporate interests by restoring the public’s access to data the government collects from private companies.

Facial Recognition Technology Regulation: A Practical Guide for Congress

The dearth of accountability safeguards as government agencies acquire facial recognition technologies prompted Open the Government and a growing list of civil society groups to urge Congress to swiftly regulate the technology. New policies and research suggest there is increasing need to establish protections for facial recognition technology. San Francisco, Somerville, Massachusetts and Oakland have

Enough with Congressional Hearings on Facial Recognition: Pointers to Regulate the Technology

Recent news headlines about federal agencies using facial recognition technology to scour state databases around the country for Americans’ driving licenses without their knowledge or permission is rightfully drawing the ire of the public and some lawmakers. Yet, if you are counting, Congress held its third hearing this year on the controversy surrounding facial recognition,

Cut It Out: Broad Coalition Calls on Congress to Remove Provision Criminalizing Reasonable Disclosures from Intelligence Authorization Act

New provision would allow prosecution of reporters (or anyone) who discloses identity of current or retired operatives Washington, D.C. — Pushing against a recent move by the Central Intelligence Agency to vastly expand the definition of “covert agent” that would unreasonably criminalize disclosure of current and retired operatives’ identities, 30 top government openness, accountability, and

Supreme Court Rules Against Transparency, Sides with Secrecy

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the public’s right to information involving government dealings with private companies and corporations. Following the Court’s ruling, a business need only claim that information it provided to the government is “privileged or confidential” for the government to justify withholding the business’ records from the public – a disappointing

CIA’s Expansion of “covert agent” definition would weaken oversight and accountability

Section 305 (Division A) of S. 1589, the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY 2018, 2019, and 2020, would expand the definition of “covert agent” for purposes of prosecution under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, in what appears to be a clear attempt to subvert transparency, oversight, and accountability. Here’s OTG one-pager on what the changes