Search Results from beSpacific
Executive Order - Original Classification Authority, December 29, 2009: designating specific officials to classify information originally as "Top Secret" or "Secret" New York Times: "President Obama declared on Tuesday that “no information may remain classified indefinitely” as part of a...
31 CFR Part 103. RIN 1506-AB04 Notice of proposed rulemaking and request for comments, November 13, 2009 SUMMARY: FinCEN is issuing this notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the relevant Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”) information sharing rules to allow certain...
"The 2009 Secrecy Report Card chronicles slight decreases in secrecy across a wide spectrum of indicators in the last year of the Bush-Cheney Administration. The report, released today by a coalition of more than 70 open government advocates, also provides...
"Pentagon classification authorities are treating classified historical documents as if they contain today's secrets, rather than decades-old information that has not been secret for years. Today the National Security Archive posted multiple versions of the same documents—on issues ranging from...
Secrecy News: "The new CRS report - "Gang of Four" Congressional Intelligence Notifications, July 14, 2009 - explains the role of the "Gang of Four," meaning the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, who are...
News release: Today’s release of a report by several agency inspectors general reinforces the National Security Archive’s argument in our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that the Justice Department should declassify and release the legal justifications for the surveillance program...
News release, July 8, 2009: "Today, OMB Watch published a report that explores the impacts of secrecy labeling practices within the federal government. The report, Controlled Unclassified Information: Recommendations for Information Control Reform, shines a light on how government withholds...
Secrecy News: "The rise of “the wall” between intelligence and law enforcement personnel that impeded the sharing of information within the U.S. government prior to September 11, 2001 was critically examined in a detailed monograph (pdf) that was prepared in...
News releases, National Security Archive [includes links to full text of referenced documents]: "Now that President Obama has announced a review of U.S. secrecy policy, critics of secrecy policy and declassification requesters alike can only hope that those who carry...
JCX-23-09 (March 30, 2009) Tax Compliance And Enforcement Issues With Respect To Offshore Accounts And Entities: "This document, prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides background on withholding and information reporting requirements applicable to payments of...
Bank Secrecy Act: Suspicious Activity Report Use Is Increasing, but FinCEN Needs to Further Develop and Document Its Form Revision Process, GAO-09-226, February 27, 2009 Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs, GAO-09-326SP, March 30, 2009 Defense Infrastructure: DOD Needs...
Bank Secrecy Act: Federal Agencies Should Take Action to Further Improve Coordination and Information-Sharing Efforts, GAO-09-227, February 12, 2009 Emergency Management: Actions to Implement Select Provisions of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act, GAO-09-433T, March 17, 2009 Global War on...
News release: "The Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information online found that while more and more government records are being posted online, some of the most important information is being left offline. And in some cases governments are...
Via Secrecy News: Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Background and Current Developments, updated January 28, 2009. War in Afghanistan: Strategy, Military Operations, and Issues for Congress, January 23, 2009. Homeland Security Intelligence: Perceptions, Statutory Definitions, and Approaches, updated January 14, 2009. Israel...
Military Base Realignments and Closures: DOD Faces Challenges in Implementing Recommendations on Time and Is Not Consistently Updating Savings Estimates, GAO-09-217, January 30, 2009 Information Security: Further Actions Needed to Address Risks to Bank Secrecy Act Data, GAO-09-195, January 30,...
Editorial - Exit Stonewalling: "...E-mail messages that have gone suspiciously missing are estimated to number in the millions. These could illuminate some of the administration’s darker moments, including the lead-up to the Iraq war, when intelligence was distorted, the destruction...
Presidential Libraries: The Federal System and Related Legislation, Updated November 26, 2008. "Through the National Archives and Records Administration, the federal government currently manages and maintains 12 presidential libraries. Inaugurated with the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955, these entities are...
The U.S. Financial Crisis: The Global Dimension with Implications for U.S. Policy, November 18, 2008 Reporting Requirements in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, updated November 13, 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and Current Financial Turmoil: Issues and...
OMB Watch: "...more than 240 individuals and organizations [Participants included good government groups, professional associations, traditional reporters, bloggers, unions, representatives of the philanthropic community, technology experts, and members of academia. In an unprecedented manner, the project brought together conservatives, libertarians,...
News release: "The Obama administration can act quickly after taking office in January to reverse the secrecy trend of the last eight years and restore openness in the executive branch, according to a set of new proposals posted online today...
"OpenTheGovernment.org’s fifth annual report, Secrecy Report Card 2008, shows both a continued expansion of government secrecy across a broad array of agencies and actions and some movement toward more openness and accountability, particularly in the Congress. The public has a...
Via Secrecy News: Knowledge Management Section, U.S. Army Field Manual 6-01.1, August 29, 2008 "This manual provides doctrine for the organization and operations of the knowledge management (KM) section. It establishes the doctrinal principles, tactics, techniques, and procedures necessary to...
Via FAS - CRS: Journalists’ Privilege: Overview of the Law and Legislation in the 109th and 110th Congresses, Updated July 29, 2008 "In Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665, 679-680 (1972), the Supreme Court wrote journalists claim “that to gather...
Via Secrecy News: U.S.-Russian Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement: Issues for Congress, updated June 26, 2008 Department of Justice (DOJ) Appropriations for FY2008 and FY2009, June 10, 2008 A Brief History of Veterans' Education Benefits and Their Value," June 25, 2008...
Via Secrecy News: National Security Strategy: Legislative Mandates, Execution to Date, and Considerations for Congress, May 28, 2008 Science, Technology, and American Diplomacy: Background and Issues for Congress, May 22, 2008 Mexico-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress, updated May 23, 2008...
House Intelligence Committee Report on the 2009 Intelligence Authorization Act, H.Rep. 110-665, May 21. The link and following, from Secrecy News: "The National Cyber Security Initiative, which is “the single largest… and most important initiative” in next year’s budget, is...
Via Secrecy News Defense Contracting in Iraq: Issues and Options for Congress, updated May 6, 2008 The National Security Council: An Organizational Assessment, updated April 21, 2008 Homeland Security Department: FY2009 Request for Appropriations, May 6, 2008 Japan's Nuclear Future:...
Via Secrecy News: Defense: FY2009 Authorization and Appropriations, May 5, 2008 Second FY2008 Supplemental Appropriations for Military Operations, International Affairs, and Other Purposes, updated May 8, 2008: Director of National Intelligence Statutory Authorities: Status and Proposals, updated April 17, 2008...
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network Strategic Plan for 2008 - 2012 (05/08/2008) "As the administrator of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), FinCEN regulates the financial industry for anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing (AML/CFT) purposes across a broad range of sectors, including banking,...
"Throughout 2007, OMB Watch diligently exposed assaults on public protections and fought for greater government accountability and performance. Our 2007 Annual Report offers you some highlights from the past year." "OMB Watch, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, was formed...
Via Secrecy News, Africa Command: U.S. Strategic Interests and the Role of the U.S. Military in Africa, updated March 10, 2008 High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) and High Power Microwave (HPM) Devices: Threat Assessments, updated March 26, 2008 Second FY2008...
The Sunshine in Litigation Act: Does Court Secrecy Undermine Public Health and Safety? Senate Judiciary Committee, S. HRG. 110–263 [248 pages, PDF]. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United...
"Three-quarters of American adults view the federal government as secretive, and nearly nine in 10 say it's important to know presidential and congressional candidates' positions on open government when deciding who to vote for, according to a Sunshine Week survey...
Secrecy News: "The Office of the Director of National Intelligence provided an overview of U.S. intelligence data mining development programs in...Data Mining Report,” ODNI Report to Congress, February 15, 2008. Data mining is used by intelligence agencies to search through...
Forest Service: Better Planning, Guidance, and Data Are Needed to Improve Management of the Competitive Sourcing Program, GAO-08-195, January 22, 2008 Bank Secrecy Act: Increased Use of Exemption Provisions Could Reduce Currency Transaction Reporting While Maintaining Usefulness to Law Enforcement...
Press release: "The National Security Archive, along with several leading U.S. historical associations, today is filing a petition in federal court in New York City for the release of grand jury records from the 1951 indictment of Julius and Ethel...
Improving Declassification - A Report to the President from the Public Interest Declassification Board Report, December 2007 (48 pages, PDF): "There are at least eight ways by which security classified national security information may become declassified, including through Freedom of...
Via Secrecy News, "this 2002 study was released in response to a Mandatory Declassification Review request filed by Michael Ravnitzky": Spartans in Darkness: American SIGINT and the Indochina War, 1945-1975 by Robert J. Hanyok, Center for Cryptologic History, National Security...
January 3, 2008 - The Effect of State-Legalized Same-Sex Marriage on Social Security Benefits and Pensions January 2, 2008 - National Aviation Security Policy, Strategy, and Mode-Specific Plans: Background and Considerations for Congress December 31, 2007 - Pay-As-You-Go Procedures for...
The Best and Worst of 2007: Government Secrecy, Patrick Radden Keefe, The Century Foundation, 1/2/2008. "America has a classification problem, and has for quite some time. The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once observed that if all the newspapers in...
Via Secrecy News: Weak and Failing States: Evolving Security Threats and U.S. Policy, November 15, 2007 Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues, updated November 14, 2007 The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since...
Via FAS: Managing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Policy Implications of Expanding Global Access to Nuclear Power, November 1, 2007 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program: Background, Status, and Issues," updated October 25, 2007 Navy DDG-1000 Destroyer Program: Background, Oversight Issues,...
"The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) announced the release of a report to Congress on the interagency regulatory burden reduction effort spearheaded by OTS Director John Reich. The report details progress of the federal bank, thrift and credit union agencies...
Cultural Challenges in Cross Border Mediation, by Vikrant Singh Negi Persuading Judges in Writing: Tips for Lawyers (And how technology can help), by Troy Simpson Competitive Intelligence on a Shoestring, by Susan Armstrong and Sabrina I. Pacifici E-Discovery Update: Discovery...
Press release: "Three telecommunications companies have provided responses to inquiries by the Committee on Energy and Commerce about their involvement with the National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program. On October 2, Rep. John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee,...
Defense: FY2008 Authorization and Appropriations, updated September 17, 2007 Presidential Claims of Executive Privilege: History, Law, Practice and Recent Developments, updated September 17, 2007 Arms Sales: Congressional Review Process, updated September 12, 2007 Afghanistan: Post-War Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy,"...
Secrecy News has posted issues of the World Law Bulletin from 2000-2006, from the Law Library of Congress, not otherwise available to the public. These resources were in large measure provided through the efforts of Michael Ravnitzky....
Court Permits CIA to Withhold Historic President's Daily Briefs, But Denies Categorical Exemption for PDBs: "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week held that the disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act of two Presidential Daily Briefs written for...
Press release: "Government secrecy saw further expansion last year despite growing public concern, according to a report released today by a coalition of open government advocates. The Secrecy Report Card 2007, produced annually by OpenTheGovernment.org in order to identify trends...
Press release: "The Center on Government Secrecy (CGS) was created in August 2007 as a non-partisan academic center devoted to the study of government openness and secrecy. Established under the auspices of the Program on Law and Government in the...
"The Federation of American Scientists posts its unique 60 year archive of public interest reports on science in the public interest, nuclear weapons and energy policy, biological and chemical warfare, government secrecy, military policy...Reports online range from 1946 to 2005....
Press release: "The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today released the revised Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Examination Manual (405 pages, PDF). The revised manual reflects the ongoing commitment of the federal and state banking agencies and the Financial...
Via Secrecy News, CRS Report - American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, June 29, 2007: "This report is written in response to numerous requests for war casualty statistics and lists of war dead. It provides tables, compiled...
Understanding Privacy -- and the Real Threats to It, August 4, 2007 (20 pages, PDF), by Jim Harper, the editor of Privacilla.org and director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute. Executive Summary: "Properly defined, privacy is the subjective...
CRS, State E-Government Strategies: Identifying Best Practices and Applications - July 23, 2007: "Although electronic government ("e-government") is currently one of the leading approaches to government reform, a lack of coordination or communication between various initiatives increases the risk of...
Congress's Contempt Power: Law, History, Practice, and Procedure," July 24, 2007 [via Secrecy News]...
"Each year Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) gathers relevant statistical data regarding each agency's security classification program. ISOO analyzes this data in its 2006 Annual Report to the President." AP: "There were 20.5 million decisions to classify government secrets last...
Press release: "Throughout the 1960s and most of the 1970s, while the U.S. government conducted its space reconnaissance program under a veil of absolute secrecy, officials debated whether information about the program (including the "fact of" its existence and certain...
Press release: "The United States has faced an unprecedented rise in government secrecy over the last six years, according to a report released today by OpenTheGovernment.org and People For the American Way Foundation. Government Secrecy: Decisions Without Democracy 2007 (52...
Private Security Contractors in Iraq: Background, Legal Status, and Other Issues, updated June 21, 2007 (33 pages, PDF). [via Secrecy News] Related government documents and news: Hearing, House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, May 10, 2007: from the transcript of testimony...
"A new pamphlet from the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) History Office describes locations in and around Washington, D.C. that have significant associations with the history of U.S. military intelligence." [via Secrecy News] On the Trail of Military...
Follow up to June 13 posting, Judiciary Chairmen Leahy, Conyers Issue Subpoenas For White House Officials, Documents see these related government documents and Congressional statements issued today: Press release from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): "As the Committee opens its Executive...
Via Secrecy News: "The National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. intelligence agency that builds and operates spy satellites, has released a redacted version of its declassification guide for review of historical records that also provides a unique overview of the agency."...
Wired reports the "U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer...The new rules (PDF) obtained by Wired News require a commander be consulted before...
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights, hearing - Responding to The Inspector General's Findings of Improper Use of National Security Letters by the FBI, April 11, 2007. Via American Library Association Washington Office Newsline: "George...
Via Secrecy News: CRS Director Daniel P. Mullohan issued a memo to all CRS staff, entitled Distribution of CRS Products to Non-Congressionals, stating that "prior approval should now be required at the division or office level before products are distributed...
Press release: "Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Cornyn in reintroducing the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act” (the “OPEN Government Act”). This bill contains commonsense reforms to update and strengthen the Freedom of Information Act...
Project on Government Oversight's(POGO) 2007 "Baker’s Dozen” of Suggested Congressional Oversight Priorities, February 1, 2007 includes the following topics: "1. Addressing Federal Contractor Misconduct; 2. Hidden Costs of Privatizing Government; 3. Executive Branch Revolving Door and Conflicts-of-Interest; 4. Whistleblower Retaliation;...
"A new First Amendment Center report examines the rising conflicts between the federal government and the press over matters of secrecy, leaks and threats to prosecute journalists for espionage or treason for reporting classified information. Government Secrecy vs. Freedom of...
Follow-up to previous postings on EPA library closings, via FAS, this recent CRS report, Restructuring EPA's Libraries: Background and Issues for Congress, updated January 3, 2007. "EPA determined that the utility of some of its libraries had declined as the...
Bank Secrecy Act: FinCEN and IRS Need to Improve and Better Coordinate Compliance and Data Management Efforts, Full text GAO-07-212, and Highlights, December 15, 2006: "...FinCEN and IRS lack a documented and coordinated strategy with time frames, priorities, and resource...
Secrecy and Foreign Policy, Robert Pallitto, December 8, 2006, Foreign Policy In Focus: "Since the beginning of the republic, U.S. presidents have used some form of secrecy in the course of governing. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, congressional...
Televising Supreme Court and Other Federal Court Proceedings: Legislation and Issues, updated November 8, 2006. Related news: Verdict out on cameras in Supreme Court...
As Director of the Project on Government Secrecy, Steven Aftergood has let the light shine in on the otherwise secret world of "sensitive" government documents, much to the benefit of scholars, researchers, librarians, journalists and interested citizens. This profile of...
Directive on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing (22 pages, PDF) Press release (PDF): "This measure is intended to combat money-laundering and terrorist financing. It covers many forms...
Covert Action: Legislative Background and Possible Policy Questions, November 2, 2006 Pakistan-U.S. Relations, Updated October 26, 2006 Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1998-2005, October 23, 2006 Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security, Updated October 18, 2006 Weapons of Mass Destruction:...
Levine, David S., "Secrecy and Unaccountability: Trade Secrets in Our Public Infrastructure". Florida Law Review, Forthcoming. [via SSRN] "Trade secrecy - the intellectual property doctrine that allows businesses to keep commercially valuable information secret for a potentially unlimited amount of...
Protection of Security-Related Information, September 27, 2006. "The terrorist attacks of September 11 prompted a reevaluation of how to balance public access to information with the need for safety and security. The accumulation of confidential business information from owners and...
Protection of Security-Related Information, September 27, 2006 (via FAS, 29 pages, PDF) Related postings on use of various designations for government documents to restrict public access...
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing: Examining Treasury's Role in Combating Terrorist Financing Five Years After 9/11, September 12, 2006. Witness Testimony (PDF format): Mr. Robert W. Werner, Director, Finacial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Department of the...
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing: Examining Treasury's Role in Combating Terrorist Financing Five Years After 9/11, September 12, 2006. Witness Testimony (PDF format): Mr. Robert W. Werner, Director, Finacial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Department of the...
Project On Government Oversight - September 11, 2006: An annotated list of resources related to the policies and use of the Transportation Security Administration's Sensitive Security Information secrecy category....
National Archives Issues Progress Report on Declassification Initiatives: "The new NDI program will reduce redundancies in declassification review, will promote accurate and consistent declassification decisions, will improve equity recognition across the declassification community, develop centralized priorities and management controls around...
Post-9/11 antiterror technology: A report card news analysis - As Sept. 11 nears, News.com examines five useful ways of improving security--and five that should raise eyebrows, by Declan McCullagh Post-9/11 privacy and secrecy: A report card, by Declan McCullagh and...
OpenTheGovernment.org: "Report Finds Federal Government Still More Secretive in 2005: Government secrecy saw further expansion in 2005 despite growing public concern, according to the Secrecy Report Card 2006." Secrecy Report Card 2006 - Indicators of Secrecy in the Federal Government...
LA Times (reg. req'd) EDITORIAL - Espionage -- Not Just for Spies Anymore - "Bush administration and the courts are expanding the concepts of "leaking" and "secrecy" to affect normal citizens on the receiving end."...
The Nation: Librarians at the Gates, by Joseph Huff-Hannon [posted online on August 22, 2006]: "The day-to-day challenges librarians face are inherent in the job description: defending access to controversial or banned books, staving off budget cuts, and creating and...
From the FDIC: Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual – Updated, July 28, 2006....
Secrecy News: "The Department of Defense recently published its annual report on counterproliferation, an overview of U.S. government programs to detect, prevent and counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction." "Report on Activities and Programs for Countering Proliferation and...
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearing - Tax Haven Abuses: The Enablers, The Tools & Secrecy: "The Subcommittee's...August 1st hearings will present case histories on the use of offshore trusts and corporations...
Secrecy News: "In a rare victory for public access to intelligence agency records, a federal court yesterday ordered (pdf) the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) to process its FY 2006 budget request for release under the Freedom of Information Act. Judge...
Washington Post, Public Secrets, by Robert G. Kaiser, Sunday, June 11, 2006. "Steven Aftergood, who works on classification issues for the Federation of American Scientists, calls the administration's approach to secrets "a cultivation of fear as a policy driver." He...
Judging Secrets: The Role Courts Should Play in Preventing Unnecessary Secrecy, by Meredith Fuchs (General Counsel at The National Security Archive at George Washington University), Administrative Law Review, Winter 2006....
Follow-up to previous postings on a Connecticut library oranization that was the target of a National Security Letter gag ordered, today the New York Times reported, Librarians Win as U.S. Relents on Secrecy Law: "After fighting ferociously for months, federal...
Federal Secrecy After September 11 and the Future of the Information Society, Volume 2, Issue 1 (2006), Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society....
Managing Sensitive Information: Departments of Energy and Defense Policies and Oversight Could Be Improved, GAO-06-369, March 7, 2006. Full text | Highlights: "...the lack of training requirements and oversight of the Official Use Only (OUO) and For Official Use Only...
Sunshine Week press release: "Two national polls conducted on the eve of the second national Sunshine Week open government initiative, March 12-18, show a public that equates open government with effective democracy and is concerned about the rise in official...
USNews.com: Finding out what Uncle Sam has on you: "The U.S. Freedom of Information Act is approaching its 40th birthday. Given that March 12 begins national Sunshine Week–an effort to cast light onto the growing recesses of government secrecy–U.S. News...
Declan McCullagh reported that NORAD orders Web deletion of transcript: "In an unusual follow-up to a public event, the Defense Department has ordered that a transcript of an open hearing on aviation restrictions be yanked from the Web." North American...
AP, Judge Weighs Libby's Request for Documents - The special prosecutor contends that Libby's demand for unprecedented access to an extensive range of classified White House documents "is a transparent effort at 'greymail'." Relevant government documents (via firedoglake): The Classified...
Follow-up to a series of recent postings on the growing controversy concerning NASA's policy to limit public access to accurate scientific documents on global warming. New York Times - Call for Openness at NASA Adds to Reports of Pressure: "Top...
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, Declassifying Gov. Docs. For Libby Defense, today Steven Aftergood provides a detailed analysis of the powers of the President and Vice President, respectively, in declassifying national security information. As Steven explains, Executive Order 13292, issued by...
Follow-up to Gov't Climate Change Expert Contends Censorship of Data and NASA Chief Calls for "Scientific Openness" Amidst Claims of Gov't Secrecy, today this report from the New York Times on the resignation of a presidential appointee at NASA responsible...
Follow up on previous postings, Executive Order Mandates Chief FOIA Officers for Each Agency by January 13, 2006 and President Issues New Order on FOIA Disclosures, this posting by Steven Aftergood documents new directives for agency responses to FOIA requests....
Follow-up to recent postings, Gov't Climate Change Expert Contends Censorship of Data, and Sen. Boxer Calls For Hearings on Censorship of Gov't Scientists, the New York Times reports that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin issued a "statement of scientific openness" to...
Late last night AP reported that Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald stated in legal correspondence [the full text of which is available here in PDF] related to discovery in the Libby CIA leak indictment, that White House email from 2003...
A Tangled Web woven: At the CIA, what gets put up online--and what doesn't, by David E. Kaplan [via Secrecy News]: "The CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence is one of the agency's most open branches. The in-house think...
Following up with reports related to January 17, 2006 posting, Comparison of Congressional Oversight During Clinton and Bush Administrations, Secrecy News has posted two CRS reports as follows: Congressional Oversight, updated January 3, 2006 (6 pages, PDF) Protection of Classified...
In following this January 20, 2006 posting, Libby Defense Seeks to Widen Document Access in Plame CIA Leak Case, a report by AP today, Libby Wants to Use Classified Evidence: "Their action puts the Libby case on a dual track...
Statement for the Record of NSA Director Lt Gen Michael V. Hayden, USAF, House Permanet Select Committee on Intelligence, 12 April 2000: "In performing our mission, NSA constantly deals with information that must remain confidential so that we can continue...
The New York Times reports on a speech given today in Washington D.C. at DAR Constitutional Hall by former Vice President Al Gore, the focus of which was presidential authority, government secrecy, domestic surveillance, and the decline of congressional power....
"Rep. Waxman asks the Labor Secretary Chao to reverse the Mine Safety and Health Administration's 2004 decision to exclude mine safety inspectors' notes in Freedom of Information Act responses. The agency's secrecy policy limited disclosure about hundreds of safety violations...
OMB Watch: "Citizens for Sensible Safeguards, a coalition of labor, consumer, and other public interest organizations, filed comments (29 pages, PDF) Jan. 9 on OMB's Proposed Bulletin on Good Guidance Practices. The bulletin purports to make agency guidance documents "more...
A Legal Analysis of the NSA Warrantless Surveillance Program, by Morton H. Halperin, January 6, 2006 Secrecy News: "Halperin, a leading civil libertarian and former Pentagon and State Department official, played an influential role in the enactment of the Foreign...
Via OpentheGovernment.org, from CQ Researcher, December 2005, this 24 page (PDF) report on Government Secrecy....
In the Kingdom of the Half-Blind, by Bill Moyers. "This is the prepared text of the address delivered on December 9, 2005, by Bill Moyers for the 20th anniversary of the National Security Archive, a non-governmental research institute and library...
AP: GOP Wants to Create Secretive Gov't Agency S. 1873 - A bill to prepare and strengthen the biodefenses of the United States against deliberate, accidental, and natural outbreaks of illness, and for other purposes. [Specific language as follows: "Information...
Intelligence and Analysis on Iraq: Issues for the Intelligence Community, 29 July 2004; approved for release August 2005. (12 pages, PDF) "This is the third in a series of reports by the Kerr Group (Richard Kerr, Thomas Wolfe, Rebecca Donegan,...
Reinventing the Empire of Secrecy: An Agenda for the First DNI, by Lee S. Strickland The Authors Guild v. The Google Print Library Project, by Jonathan Band Researching U.S. Treaties and Agreements - Revised and Updated, by Marci Hoffman Criminal...
The September 14 launch of William M. Arkin's blog, "Early Warning", with its focus on "national and homeland security," was noted by Secrecy News for establishing what promises to be a significant and useful online archive of government documents not...
Press release: "Government agencies are expanding secrecy in many areas, according to the findings of a report released today. The 2005 Secrecy Report Card, the second annual report on secrecy from OpenTheGovernment.org, found secrecy in 2004 extended to more classified...
Press release: "The National Security Archive, along with other secrecy experts, today filed a 'friend of the court' brief ( 42 pages, PDF) in a lawsuit challenging the FBI's authority to issue national security letters (NSLs) without any judicial oversight...
All the articles listed are available in Part 1 of the July 2005 issue of LLRX.com: Delivering Actionable Information To Front-Line Lawyers - John Alber details the effective implementation of business intelligence (BI) systems within law firms. The Government Domain:...
From the New York Times today, Secrecy Is Lifted in Some Tax Court Trials...
New York Times editorial today, The Dangerous Comfort of Secrecy: "The Bush administration is classifying the documents to be kept from public scrutiny at the rate of 125 a minute. The move toward greater secrecy has nearly doubled the number...
This article, Patents gagged in the name of national security, by Paul Marks, appears in the July 9 issue of New Scientist. The abstract is below, but full text is available fee only. "Every year, governments slap secrecy orders on...
As a follow-up to my April 2, 2005 posting, Significant Rise in Classification of Gov't Docs Focus of New Reports, this July 3, 2005 New York Times article, Increase in the Number of Documents Classified by the Government, reports on...
"The GPO takes very seriously any Federal agency's request to restrict access to Government information that has been made public. However, the GPO cooperates with Federal agencies in the appropriate distribution of the official information they publish..." [Secrecy News] Withdrawal...
On June, 2005 the New York Times published this article, Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming, which states that Philip A. Cooney, White House Council on Environmental Quality's chief of staff, formerly with the American Petroleum Institute,...
Press release, June 7, 2005, Cornyn, Leahy Call For Greater TransparencyIn Congressional FOIA Exemption Attempts -Congress should not establish new secrecy provisions through secret means: "U.S. Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday to ensure...
CRS Report, Internet: An Overview of Key Technology Policy Issues Affecting Its Use and Growth, April 13, 2005 (47 pages, PDF). [via FAS]...
Continued Oversight of the USA PATRIOT Act, Senate Judiciary Committee, May 10, 2005 Testimony: Bob Barr, David Cole, Danile P. Collins, James X. Dempsey, Andrew C. McCarthy, Suzanne E. Spaulding Member Statements: Patrick Leahy - "Legitimate concerns have been raised...
Declassification Board: Named but Unfunded - Panel on Government Secrecy Unable to Operate [Washington Post, reg. re'd] Related references: Public Interest Declassification Act of 2000 and White House Names Members to Decslassification Board...
U.S. Senate Committee on Intelligence, hearing on USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, April 27, 2005. Statements of Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States and Robert S. Mueller, III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Porter J. Goss...
Information Security: Internal Revenue Service Needs to Remedy Serious Weaknesses over Taxpayer and Bank Secrecy Act Data, GAO-05-482, April 15, 2005. Highlights. "...39 newly identified information security control weaknesses impair IRS's ability to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of...
IRS Denies It's Refusing to Release Papers...and in response, Federal Lawsuit Filed Today Against IRS Is Part of Broad Effort to Provide Information About Agency's Audit Activities to the Public Background: Dangers Posed by IRS Secrecy Full Text of District...
From Secrecy News, "During calendar year 2004, 1,758 applications were made to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for electronic surveillance and physical search, according to the latest Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) annual report to Congress. That established a new...
The message on the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Joint Electronic Library website today reads as follows: "This website is under review. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." Secrecy News reported "that the site was taken offline overnight...
Data on the classification of government documents, compiled by the National Records and Archives Administration's Information Security Oversight Office, is available in the 2004 Report to the President: "This report provides information on the status of the security classification program...
The University of Maryland Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise announced the availablity of a report, The Unintended Audience: Balancing Openness and Secrecy - Crafting an Information Policy for the 21st Century (76 pages, PDF), that addresses post 9/11...
This page, which will be updated throught Sunshine Week, provides summaries and links to selected national and state sources on the open government issue. Related resources: Government secrecy: dark cloud over open society - Inside the First Amendment, by Paul...
Emerging Threats: Overclassification and Psuedo-Classification, House Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, March 2, 2005. Related resources: Shays Holds Hearing on Overclassification: "Last year, more federal officials classified more information, and declassified less,...
Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under an Interagency Agreement with the NASA Office of Inspector General, September 2004: "Laws and Regulations Governing the Protection of Sensitive But Unclassified Information." (32 pages, PDF, via Secrecy News)...
Interstate Travel: Constitutional Challenges to the Identification Requirement and Other Transportation Security Regulations, Congressional Research Service, November 4, 2004 (via Secrecy News) Related postings on Gilmore v. Ashcroft: Requirement to Show ID for Ground and Air Transport...
A copy of DHS Form 11000-6, Non-Disclosure Agreement for Sensitive But Unclassified Information, dated August 2004, obtained by Secrecy News, and posted here....
State Election Laws: Overview of Statutes Regarding Emergency Election Postponement Within the State, September 22, 2004: "Due to the possibility of an emergency or disaster, including the threat of a terrorist attack, occurring immediately before or during a scheduled election,...
From Secrecy News: "Congressional conferees narrowed the scope of a new Freedom of Information Act exemption for certain categories of commercial satellite imagery and related products. As revised, the exemption would apply only to imagery whose sale to non-government customers...
A new report prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman "analyzes how the Administration has implemented each of our nation's major open government laws (the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Presidential Records Act, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act)." Report...
From the Washington Post (reg. req'd), Secret Court Poses Challenges - Non-Government Litigants Lack Access, Ways to Influence Cases and Too Much Secrecy, as well as this report, Secrecy and National Security by Bruce Berkowitz, Hoover Digest, Summer 2004. [links...
As referenced in Secrecy News: Secrecy Versus Openness: New Proposed Arrangements for Balancing Competing Needs, updated August 26, 2004. The Protection of Classified Information: The Legal Framework, updated August 5, 2004. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: Term Limits and Assignment...
Press release: 'Report Card' Finds 60% Rise in Secrecy at a Rising Cost of $6.5 Billion Last Year, August 26, 2004. "Government data confirm what many have suspected: secrecy has increased dramatically in recent years under policies of the current...
From the Washington Post (re'g req'd), U.S. Uses Secret Evidence In Secrecy Fight With ACLU, and the related ACLU press release. See also Record Number of FOIA Requests Received by Federal Gov't in 2003....
Spawning a Culture of Secrecy, by Mark Tapscott, July 28. [Secrecy News]...
From Secrecy News (all reports in PDF): Terrorism and National Security: Issues and Trends, CRS Issue Brief, updated July 6, 2004 ">The USA Patriot Act Sunset: A Sketch, updated June 10, 2004 USA Patriot Act Sunset: Provisions That Expire on...
Statements of Administration Policy (July 7, 2004) H.R. 4754, Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, FY 2005 [Link, 3 pages, PDF] "If legislation were presented to the President that includes any provision that...
From Secrecy News: "The Pentagon has reissued its Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, featuring over 700 pages of definitions updated through March 2004." (736 pages, PDF)...
On FOIA Front, More Agencies Contract Out: Private Firms Have Growing Role in Handling Backlogs of Requests for Government Records Related reference: see the FAS Project on Government Secrecy, which "works to challenge excessive government secrecy and to promote public...
Domestic Intelligence and Civil Liberties, by Kate Martin (Director, Center for National Security Studies), SAIS Review, Winter-Spring 2004. [Secrecy News] "The 9.11 Commission hearings have highlighted intelligence failures by the FBI and CIA before September 11. On April 13, 2004,...
'We're in a new era of secrecy', by Taylor Holliday 2004 National FOI Day keynote speech, by David L. Sobel 2004 FOI update: Federal legislation, by Kevin M. Goldberg 2004 FOI update: The courts, by Harry Hammitt 2004 FOI update:...
John Podesta's Remarks at Princeton University, March 10, 2004, America's Secret History: Securing Our Future By Embracing Open Government....
From Secrecy News: "The 2004 Operational Law Handbook published by the U.S. Army JAG Corps provides a comprehensive map of the terrain of military law, from the legal basis for the use of force to domestic operations to the laws...
Bush Administration Thwarts Access - Excerpt from The Buying of the President 2004 Shows the White House's Propensity for Secrecy [Link]...
The link to this article from CQ's Homeland Security subscriber publication, titled TSA Asks Media to Expunge Public Testimony on Airport Security Problems comes via Secrecy News. It states that TSA requested the removal of two pages of unclassified hearing...
Court upholds secrecy over 9/11 detainees...
Lieberman Unveils Plan To Protect Privacy, Break Down Bush's Wall Of Secrecy: "Joe Lieberman became the first candidate to release a comprehensive plan for protecting people's personal privacy and breaking down George Bush's wall of secrecy around his Administration. Among...
From Secrecy News, a copy of a Congressional Research Service internal memo from December 2003 that addresses the escalating controversy on restrictions to public dissemination of CRS reports....
Intelligence Identities Protection Act by Elizabeth B. Bazan, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division, CRS, October 3, 2003. (via Secrecy News) Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 (50 U.S.C. 421 et seq.)...
Via Secrecy News, this link to an important recent CRS report, Continuity of Government, Current Federal Arrangements and the Future. From the Summary: "Continuity of government refers to the continued functioning of constutitional government under all circumstances. Arrangements for the...
The GAO failed in their effort to obtain access to essential documents from Vice President Cheney's National Energy Policy Development Group in order to determine if the nation's energy policy was influenced by corporations with a financial stake in the...
From U.S. News, an extensive investigative report on How the public's business gets done out of the public eye: "For the past three years, the Bush administration has quietly but efficiently dropped a shroud of secrecy across many critical operations...
Ths new report, by Stephen Pizzo, chronicles some of the most significant examples of how the current administration has curtailed public access to critical government documents. From the report: ""Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, an independent public advocacy...
Each year the Congressional Research Search (CRS) publishes approximately 1,000 reports of which the public may have access to several hundred. In an interesting change of policy, Secrecy News reports that access to selected reports previously provided via the websites...
OpenTheGovernment.org, Americans for Less Secrecy, More Democracy, is a new website formed by "a coalition of organizations united in our belief that we must remain a free society in which an open government helps the public make informed choices, hold...
From Secrecy News: "In a new retreat from public oversight, the Department of Defense has blocked public access to the online database of DoD directives maintained by the Defense Technical Information Center. These unclassified DoD directives, which define nearly every...
From Steven Aftergood at the Project on Government Secrecy: "The text of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982, which prohibits the identification of "covert agents," is available here." From Section 421: "Whoever, having or having had authorized access to...
Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) issued a press release on his introduction of a bill (H.R. 3171) to repeal sections of the Patriot Act that authorize violations of civil liberties. "The Benjamin Franklin True Patriot Act repeals sections of the...
From Secrecy News: "The Library of Congress has recently acquired a new database of declassified documents that is available to members of the public who use the Library in Washington, DC, though it cannot be remotely accessed. The Declassified Documents...
Secrecy News reports on the names of the current eleven members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA), along with the date each was appointed as well as when their respective appointments expire. The author of this report, Steven Aftergood,...
On July 31, Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) introduced the 9-11 Memorial Intelligence Reform Act, "aimed at overhauling the Intelligence Community to prevent another successful terrorist attack like the tragedy of September 11, 2001." "Graham said a top priority is the...
Despite the efforts of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) to prohibit funds appropriated under H.R. 2555, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act 2004, from being used by any advisory committee (Homeland Security Advisory Council) that has been exempted from the...
From Secrecy News: "Of particular interest to Secrecy News readers may be the final Appendix on Access Limitations Encountered by the Joint Inquiry. It describes a number of documents or topical areas to which congressional investigators were denied access. These...
From Secrecy News: in a July 14 statement, the White House "urges the Senate to remove the provision (from the 2004 Defense Appropriations Act) that prohibits any research and development for the Terrorism Information Awareness Program. This provision would deny...
From the 7/15/2003 Library Journal: "As government documents librarians incorporate more digital materials, they are finding that the very shape of their libraries is transformed," by Marylaine Block. "Like other documents librarians, Carolyn Kohler (government publications librarian at the University...
Restore America's freedom of information, by Sens. Patrick Leahy and Carl Levin. "The Bush administration has made secrecy, not sunshine, its default position, whether the issue is industry input to the national energy policy (current report has yet to be...
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Before and After the USA PATRIOT Act, from the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, June 2003 (via Secrecy News). "...care must be taken to ensure that the new tools provided by Congress in the USA PATRIOT Act...
An interview with Steven Aftergood, Project on Government Secrecy, Federation of American Scientists: Government Secrecy in the Age of Information, by Joe Fitzgerald and Antonia Badway, Biodefense Quarterly, Summer 2003 (a publication of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense...
Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists maintains an extensive resource on Bush Administration Documents on Secrecy Policy. Included are links to: Presidential Documents, Related White House Press Briefings, and Other Official Documents on Bush Administration Secrecy Policy....
From Steven Aftergood, May 6 Secrecy News (from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy): "The total amount of intelligence spending for 2002 should be declassified over the objections of the Central Intelligence Agency, a federal court was told May 5...
From the National Security Archive: "The proposed FY 2004 Defense Authorization Act (S. 747) would throw a cloak of secrecy over valuable National Security Agency ("NSA") records now released under the Freedom of Information Act, including important historical records on...
Via the FAS Project on Government Secrecy, news that Attorney General Ashcroft has submitted a report "pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, Title 50, United States Code, Section 1807, as amended," as acknowledged in this letter. The...
On April 15, the Department of Homeland Security proposed new regulations for Procedures for Handling Critical Infrastructure Information. The rulemaking states: "The Department recognizes that its receipt of information pertaining to the security of critical infrastructure, much of which is...
On March 21, I posted this entry, Executive Order on National Security Info to be Rescinded. On March 25, the President issued Executive Order 12958, Amended, Classified National Security Information. "...the national defense has required that certain information be maintained...