Keep reading for today’s look at #OpenGov news, events, and analysis, including a look at the U.S. government’s Terrorist Screening Database and Terrorist Information Datamart Environment, the continuing consequences of the E.U.’s “right to be forgotten” ruling on the Wikimedia Foundation, and a new Republican committee that seeks to make use of SCOTUS’ McCutcheon ruling at the state level. 

National News

• Nearly half of the people in the Terrorist Screening Database have no known connection to any terrorist groups. The database, obtained from a source within the intelligence community, is maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center and is shared with local law enforcement agencies, private contractors, and foreign governments. Another larger and classified data pool, the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, has even more lax standards for targeting individuals, and is another piece in the expansion of surveillance efforts during the Obama Administration. (The Intercept)
• The federal government has concluded that there is another leaker from within the U.S. intelligence community who is believed to have provided the source material for yesterday’s story on the the Terrorist Screening Database and TIDE published by Glenn Greenwald’s The Intercept. (CNN)
• Forty-seven Inspectors General from agencies across the federal government have signed a joint letter to Congress claiming that management at their respective agencies have unduly restricted, delayed, or denied the watchdog offices’ access to government records that are necessary for their work. (Politico)
• A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals that substantial discrepancies exist between agency grant and loan reporting on USASpending.gov and internal agency records. (FedScoop)

International News

• Over the past decade, Singapore has built perhaps the largest integrated surveillance and big data system in the world. Based on the controversial Total Information Awareness program first imagined at DARPA, Singaporean officials have been using the collected information to plan everything from immigration to future surveillance policy. (Foreign Policy)
• FutureGov interviewed former CIO of Taipei’s city government and current consultant to the mayor, Chang Chia-sheng, about the successes and challenges of opening the city’s data as well as Taipei’s most popular and useful datasets (FutureGov)
• The Wikimedia Foundation has pledged to fight the European Union’s “right-to-be-forgotten” ruling, which has already resulted in several requests for removal of links to material hosted by the site. (The Guardian)

State and Local News

• Republicans are capitalizing on the Supreme Court decision in  McCutcheon v. FEC striking down aggregate campaign donation limits by forming the Targeted State Victory Committee, a collaboration between state Republican Parties in thirteen battleground states and the National Republican Senatorial Campaign. Donors would be able to cut a check of nearly $200,000 to the new committee that would subsequently be dispersed between the NRSC and state parties, which have seen their influence wane as political nonprofits have gained stature. (Politico)
• Both the National Republican Senatorial Campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have begun making millions of dollars in reservations for airtime in Georgia as the race between two political legacies Republican David Perdue (son of former Gov. Sonny Perdue) and Democrat Michelle Nunn (daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn) heats up. (Washington Post)
• Not all super PAC spending is welcomed by the candidates it benefits, especially in Iowa’s contentious Senate race, where Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate PAC has been running a series of ads attacking Republican candidate Joni Ernst. (Washington Post)

Events Today

• Privacy vs. Democracy: The Challenge for Japan and Australia. Woodrow Wilson Center. Wed., 8/6. 4:00 PM. Fourth Floor, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, One Woodrow Wilson Plaza, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.

Events Tomorrow

• Elections Worth Dying For? A Selection of Case Studies from Africa. International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Thu., 8/7. 12:00 PM. 1850 K St. NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C.
• The Nixon Resignation 40 Years Later. Newseum. Thu., 8/7. 7:00 PM. Walter and Leonore Annenberg Theater, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C.

Do you want to track transparency news? You can follow the progress of relevant bills, court cases, and regulations using Scout. You can also get Today in #OpenGov sent directly to your preferred news reader. If you would like suggest an event, please email mrumsey@sunlightfoundation.com by 7 am on the Monday prior to the event.