NASA Explores New World Of Open Data
NASA has been an open data operation since the passage of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958, in the very earliest days of the Space Race after Sputnik. The agency has always published untold volumes of scientific data. Yet the kind of standardized, machine-readable data demanded by the Obama Administration's Open Government Initiative remains a challenge. read more ...
Opinion: 10 times the government stonewalled requests for information
One of the core values of the American experiment is the idea of transparency. Citizens have a right to know what their government is up to – how tax dollars are being spent, what public servants do while on the job, and why certain decisions ...
Federal Judge Says Public Has Right To Know About FBI’s Biometric Database, Awards $20,000 In Legal Fees To FOIA Requester
Another win for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and the American public in general. A federal judge has ruled the public has the right to know certain details about the FBI's facial recognition database. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the bureau's Next Generation Identification program represents a "significant public interest" due to concerns regarding its potential impact on privacy rights and should be subject to rigorous transparency oversight. read more ...
Editorial: Staying well informed is a great way to protect your freedom
Thanks to whistleblowers like Chelsea Elizabeth Manning and Edward Snowden, we are learning to ask what our government knows like informed citizens in a democratic republic should. Manning and Snowden sacrificed their freedom to increase government t ...
A thought exercise for Civil Society within the OGP
Open government is about enabling citizens to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and making government more transparent, responsive and accountable. The Open Government Partnership has emerged as a leading platform in realizing tha ...
UW regents move dinner meetings for public access
Prompted by a legal challenge into whether its dinner meetings were truly open to the public, the University of Washington Board of Regents will no longer regularly be holding them at the off-campus home of UW President Michael Young, as has been its ...
The Virginian-Pilot sues FBI over denied request
The Virginian-Pilot has filed a lawsuit against the FBI seeking information about a training exercise last year off the coast of Virginia Beach that claimed the lives of two agents. The newspaper submitted a request under the federal Freedom of Information Act shortly after the May 17, 2013, deaths of Special Agents Christopher Lorek and Stephen Shaw. The paper sought "any reports or memos regarding the training accident," which involved the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team. read more ...
Word cloud shows what Durango wants to know about its city government
Apparently, we want to know about selling marijuana, who underbid us for that city contract and what agreements the city of Durango has made with outside groups. The city of Durango processed 87 requests for public records in the past year, denying only three, according to the city government’s own records ...
