Today in #OpenGov 6/6/2014

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Keep reading for today’s look at #OpenGov news, events and analysis including secret law, super PAC coordination, and whistleblower options around the world.  series-opengov-today

National News

  • Opinion: It has been a year since Edward Snowden exposed a trove of documents detailing NSA surveillance practices. The revelations have led to a necessary conversation about secret law and the way American citizens interact with their government. (Roll Call)
  • The fight between the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Department of Justice over the potential release of a number of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions will come to a close soon. (Ars Technica)
  • Campaigns and their big spending super PAC benefactors aren’t supposed to coordinate, so normally they avoid mentioning when they do. One Tea-Party group appears to be ignoring that rule of thumb in their latest attempt to scare up money to support Chris McDaniel, who is trying to knock off long-term, and ever-so-slightly less conservative, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) (National Journal)
  • Republican officials are planning to file a complaint with the FEC against Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), a well known campaign finance reform champion. The complaint will argue that Van Hollen violated the law by failing to disclose free legal work by campaign finance reform groups on a lawsuit he filed against the FEC. (Public Integrity)

International News

  • The Indian public is clamoring for its government to tackle issues of corruption. That has been hard, especially because India lacks a whistleblower protection law. The situation may be about to change. (Harvard Ethics Blog)
  • The Guardian has launched a new system to help whistleblowers share files in a more secure way. SecureDrop, an open source platform, provides whistleblowers a way to submit files while avoiding most forms of online tracking. (The Guardian)

State and Local News

  • Democracy.com has launched a “comprehensive” database of information about American elected officials, candidates, appointees, and committees at the local, state, and federal levels. (Tech President)

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