Sunlight Foundation

by Carrie Tian, policy intern

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS: Though our roundups generally reflect the diversity of topics in open government, today’s roundup... View Article

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS:

• A top secret court order showed that the NSA ordered Verizon to turn over all call records for a three month period and forbade it from revealing the order. Because the records only contain metadata, such as length of call, location data, and the numbers of both parties, no individual warrants are required for accessing that information. (Guardian) A senior White House official stated that the information obtained is "a critical tool in protecting the nation from terrorist threats". (Washington Post)
• As conservative groups testified before the House about unwarranted scrutiny by the IRS, many of their own websites include explicitly partisan events and information. The crux of the debate is interpreting the IRS's stipulation that political activity cannot be a 501(c)(4) organization's "primary" activity. (POLITICO)
• The Connecticut state legislature approved a bill restricting access to information about homicide victims after the Newtown shootings highlighted the need for clarification. While records like 911 calls have been available under FOIA, the bill blocks the release of photos, videos, and portions of the calls that "describe the condition of the victim". (Hartford Courant)
• A panel on gun research convened by President Obama has issued its recommendations. Among them is the need for a count of total guns in the nation, though this could stray dangerously close to becoming a national gun registry, which is banned by federal law. (New York Times)
• In response to a petition under the federal Data Quality Act, the CDC and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will revise their information about helmets, removing current claims that helmets prevent 85% of head injuries. Though that figure was obtained in an early study, subsequent studies saw only weaker connections. (Center for Regulatory Effectiveness)

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS: 

• NY state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will require dark money disclosures by nonprofit organizations in the state. Any group that spends at least $10,000 to influence NY elections will need to disclose details of its activities, including electioneering at the federal, state, and local levels.  (Wall Street Journal)
• Scrutiny of the IRS continues, as a Treasury Department audit of the agency revealed exorbitant conference spending, including a single conference in 2010 that cost $4.1 million. The exact price of the conference is unknown because the IRS - which demands detailed financial records from taxpayers - did not require its management to track conference costs. (POLITICO)
• The police force of Boynton Beach, Fl., recently adopted the MyPD app, a nationwide app that allows citizens to submit tips directly to their police department and stay abreast of local safety updates. The Boynton Beach PD also polled its Facebook followers about where to install additional officers and maintains active accounts on Youtube, Twitter, and Pinterest. (Government Technology)
• Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius came under fire for making calls  to companies regulated by HHS, including Johnson & Johnson and Kaiser, asking for their support of Enroll America under Obamacare. Sebelius responded that she was following the legally-authorized precedent of establishing public-private partnerships. (ThinkProgress)
• Majority Leader Eric Cantor unveiled cosponsor.gov, a site that allows individual citizens to indicate their support for pieces of legislation introduced by sitting members of Congress. The site also allows users to track legislation as it moves through the House. (National Review)
• Another newly-launched site is performance.gov, which catalogs federal agencies and seeks to centralize commonly-sought information about each agency, including budget accounts and descriptions of products and services. (Fierce Government)
• Newly-released records indicate that Mayor William Lantigua of Lawrence, MA, spent over $30,000 of taxpayer money to fight the release of records related to legal bills and rental payments. Though Lantigua claims the records contained "privileged" information, FOIA labels them as public documents. (The Valley Patriot)
• As the AP demands lists of the email addresses that political appointees use in official capacities, the debate about secret email addresses continues, over whether they are necessary to prevent officials from being inundated in spam, or whether they make record-keeping unnecessarily arduous and opaque. (Washington Post)

by Carrie Tian, policy intern NEWS: 

• State agencies across the nation are having discussions about reducing public access to personal information about politicians. In recent months, families of local leaders have been attacked in their homes. (Government Technology)
• France is revising its anti-piracy law, removing Internet cut-offs as the most severe punishment, and considering alternative recommendations, such as a 1% tax on all devices with Internet capabilities. (Ars Technica)
• As states prepare for the launch of their health exchanges under the ACA, they are hindered by the complexities of the new federal data hub, which would allow citizens to put in their personal information and receive an estimate of their healthcare subsidies. The federal data hub will ultimately need to interact with such disparate agencies as the IRS and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. (Government Technology)
• New legislation from Singapore requires that heavily-trafficked internet news sources apply for state licenses, which include the condition that the sites remove prohibited content within 24 hours of government notification. (Tech President)
• As the court-martial of Bradley Manning - who released hundreds of thousands of military documents to Wikileaks - begins, the conversation continues to revolve around casting Manning as a whistle-blower or an abetter of Al-Qaeda. (New York Times)
• The Department of Health and Human Services has released its 2011 Medicare data for the pricing of 30 common procedures, further revealing the large pricing spread even within the same regions. (Politico)
• Mainstream social media sites, such as Youtube and Flickr, allow politicians to connect directly with their constituents, but this new access jeopardizes the existence of critical political reporting. (Washington Post)