Open the Government

Impeachment Inquiry: A tough, but inevitable, pill for Trump given track record

More than a battle of the wills between the executive and legislative branches of our government, an impeachment inquiry is a process backed by the Constitution to hold the president accountable to the American people. Open the Government has long challenged Congress to fully exert its constitutional authority to address blatant misconduct by the president and

Lawsuit Against Health and Human Services Highlights Need for Contractor Transparency

Open the Government filed suit against the Department of Health and Human Services recently under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for failing to provide records on one of its contractors. The lawsuit stems from a FOIA request, originally opened in December 2018, made by Freddy Martinez, Policy Analyst at OTG, after reviewing documents provided

Amazon: Fix Rekognition’s Flaws and Leave Facial Recognition Legislation to Congress

After dismissing research indicating its facial recognition product ‘Rekognition’ disproportionately misidentified minorities and women, Amazon’s chief Jeff Bezos revealed the company is developing facial recognition legislation to pitch to Congress. Amazon’s penchant for secrecy and lack of accountability surrounding Rekognition is documented, and offering to draft legislation to regulate the facial recognition technology space in

New Facial Recognition Citizen’s Guide Empowers Public to Investigate Use of the Technology

The Citizen’s Guide by Open the Government and MuckRock explores federal, local and state agencies’ acquisition of controversial facial recognition technology over the last few years. Little is known about how widespread the use of the technology is. Many police departments share software with other law enforcement bureaus or agencies, sidestepping standard procurement disclosures, while

35 Civil Society Groups Urge Senate to Promptly Amend FOIA

Last week, Open the Government joined a nonpartisan coalition of government openness, accountability, and human rights groups in urging the Senate to support the Open and Responsive Government Act. The bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), John Cornyn (R-Iowa), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) aims to restore the public’s access to

Open the Government Leads “Immigration FOIA-thon” at Colorado Migrahack 2019

Immigration enforcement often takes place in the shadows, due to secretive and unaccountable government actions. Open the Government believes the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) can be an antidote to the deeply entrenched secrecy surrounding an immigration enforcement system that has allowed for the proliferation of unaccountable and abusive government policies and practices. For example,

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