About the Web Integrity Project

The Website Integrity Project (WIP) was launched to monitor changes to government websites, holding our government accountable by revealing shifts in public information and access to Web resources, as well as changes in stated policies and priorities.  Our ultimate aim is to expand and improve access to reliable and high-quality information on government websites for all Americans. We work with journalists to make our findings public, and we produce policy analyses to evaluate and recommend changes to Web governance practices and help ensure access to valuable Web resources. Follow @SunWebIntegrity for updates.

WIP’s History

WIP was launched in February 2018, after more than a year of regular removals from federal government websites during the first year of the Trump administration

WIP builds on the work of the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative’s (EDGI) Website Monitoring Team, which our co-founders were helped found. EDGI tracks and reports on changes to federal environmental, climate, and energy Web resources. In writing our website monitoring reports, we make use of protocols that our co-founders helped develop with colleagues at EDGI, in addition to relying on partners at the Internet Archive and making use of their Wayback Machine.

Our Role Protecting Public Web Resources

Beyond providing the public insight to the ways our government may undermine the integrity of public information and Web resources, we believe it’s important to help the public understand how it can access those resources in the future and demand that the government makes that access possible. An informed public can call on the government to sustain valuable programs and demand the creation of important safeguards that contribute to our collective well-being, but the government diminishes the public’s capacity to do so when it censors public information.

Our website monitoring reports are geared toward providing journalists and advocates with essential context for how federal websites evolve. We also serve as a resource, assisting journalists as they use changes to federal websites as a lens for better understanding agencies’ shifting priorities.

The Web Integrity Project Team

Sarah John (Director) – Sarah oversees WIP operations and leads the team’s efforts to hold our government accountable by revealing shifts in public information and access to Web resources.

Before joining WIP, Sarah served as a researcher and project manager at the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States, and as the Director of Research at FairVote, a non-profit dedicated to equal access and participation in American democracy. She has held research and teaching positions at the University of Virginia, University of Irvine California, California State University Fullerton, and the University of Adelaide.  Sarah received a Ph.D. in political science, a law degree, and a Bachelor of International Studies from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Jon Campbell (Senior Investigator) – Jon Campbell is the Senior Investigator for the Sunlight Foundation’s Web Integrity Project, where he helps track transparency and information access on the Web.

Immediately prior to joining Sunlight, Campbell was a Staff Writer with the Village Voice in New York City. His investigative reporting projects there focused on public records access, failures by state regulatory agencies and criminal justice, among other topics. His work has led to legislative reforms in a number of areas and garnered a handful of awards.

Campbell earned a M.S. degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and lives in Brooklyn.

Aaron Lemelin (Website Monitoring Analyst) – As a Web Monitoring Analyst, Aaron documents and analyzes changes made to federal government websites.

Before joining the Web Integrity Project, Aaron worked as a Web Designer in Tampa, Florida and completed a Master’s degree in Sociology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

The Web Integrity Project Founders

The Web Integrity Project team owes an immense debt of gratitude to the project’s founders: Toly Rinberg, Rachel Bergman, and Andrew Bergman.

Toly Rinberg Toly is currently studying a Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Harvard University, and he graduated from Stanford University with an M.S. in Biophysics and from Brandeis University with a B.S. in Physics.  Toly also helps lead the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative’s Website Monitoring Team.

Rachel Bergman – Prior to co-founding WIP and joining Sunlight, Rachel completed a Master’s in Global Health at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. She graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Molecular Biology, and a certificate in Global Health and Health Policy.

Andrew Bergman  Andrew is currently studying a Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Harvard University, and he graduated from Princeton University with a B.A. in Physics. Andrew serves as a Special Environmental Advisor at the Project On Government Oversight and helps lead the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative’s Website Monitoring Team. He’s also Rachel’s brother.. I bet you just thought the name thing was a coincidence.