Under the Trump administration, federal agencies have been removing important Web resources without proactive notice or justification. We should hold our government accountable to clearly explain its actions and not remove Web content when there’s no good reason for doing so.
Continue readingWeaponized disclosure must not erode public trust in government
Recent executive actions by the Trump administration violate federal information policy norms and treat data disclosure as a tool for division and public intimidation, not a means for achieving transparency and accountability.
Continue readingAgencies and advocates pitch visions for new federal open government plans
Sunlight attended a series of lightning talks focused on the next round of open government plans for executive agencies. What we heard inspired both hope and concern.
Continue readingWhich federal agencies haven’t released public indexes of their data?
While most agencies were able to quickly provide a public listing of all their datasets, several appear to be struggling with the release requirement — keeping the public in the dark about what information they truly hold.
Continue readingShining a Light on Black Budgets
Last week, the Washington Post reported that new documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal the budgets of the sixteen United States intelligence agencies. The budgets, which had never previously been revealed to the American public, totaled $52.6 billion, including $14.7 billion for the Central Intelligence Agency, $10.8 billion the National Security Agency, and $10.3 billion for the National Reconnaissance Office.
This revelation shines a badly needed light on the way that our intelligence agencies spend money. We’ve written about the importance of spending transparency many times before. As we’ve argued, “access to government spending information is a fundamental pillar of an accountable government. It provides a basis for citizen participation, promotes government integrity, and encourages greater efficiency.”
Illegal immigrant stats available, but yet to appear on Data.gov
According to Department of Homeland Security statistics, there were an estimated 460,000 unauthorized immigrants in Arizona in January 2009. That statistic, making Arizona the state with the seventh largest illegal immigrant population, was often cited last week, as Gov. Jan Brewer signed the nation’s toughest law on illegal immigration.
The number comes from “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States,” a report that the DHS releases each year, but sadly does not add to Data.gov. It takes a little digging to find it, but the most recent report for January 2009 (released in ...
Looking for the Transparency Dividend in Minnesota
This year has seen more attention than ever given to transparency – most focused on the White House and federal... View Article
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