Creating Accountability by Increasing Access to Information

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 Read Full

September 5, 2019

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 Read Full

July 31, 2019

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 Read Full

July 23, 2019

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 Read Full

July 19, 2019

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 Read Full

July 16, 2019

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 Read Full

July 9, 2019

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 Read Full

June 27, 2019

New EPA FOIA Regulations Expand Politicization without Transparency

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to implement substantial changes to the agency’s Freedom of Information Act regulations without giving the public an opportunity to comment. Although not yet finalized, Read Full

June 26, 2019

Supreme Court’s Decision in First FOIA Case Fails to Defend the Public’s Right to Know

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 today in favor of denying the public’s access to government spending information in the Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media case that brought to fore the Read Full

June 24, 2019

More Than a Dozen Organizations Urge Defense Department to Reverse Decision to Limit Afghanistan War Reports

A cross-section of organizations signed a letter late last week to acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan calling for a reversal of the military’s decision to stop collecting and releasing important Read Full

May 13, 2019