Category «E-Government»

DOGE has the keys to sensitive data that could help Elon Musk

Washington Post gift article: “A Washington Post review found that in at least seven major departments or agencies, DOGE secured the power to view records that experts say could benefit Musk’s businesses for years. For months, Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service plumbed the federal government’s information systems, scouring arcane internal records that the billionaire said …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Defense, E-Government, E-Mail, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

How Cops Can Get Your Private Online Data

EFF: “Can the cops get your online data? In short, yes. There are a variety of US federal and state laws which give law enforcement powers to obtain information that you provided to online services. But, there are steps you as a user and/or as a service provider can take to improve online privacy. Law …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

House Republicans Advance Plan to Halve GAO’s Funding

Follow-up to House Bill Would Lay Waste to Congress’s Watchdogs and Information Experts, again via Daniel Schuman, House Republicans Advance Plan to Halve GAO’s Funding: “Monday evening, House Legislative Branch appropriators voted 6 to 4 on party lines to cut GAO’s funding by 50% and reduce the Library of Congress’s funding by 12%. This would …

Subjects: Censorship, Congress, E-Government, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Climate.gov Didn’t Fit Trump’s “Gold Standard”

SciLight – Climate.gov Didn’t Fit Trump’s “Gold Standard.” Dismantling climate.gov is not an accident; it is a blueprint. Jacob Carter. Well, I didn’t expect confirmation so soon, but we now know how this administration will be using the “gold standard science” executive order (EO) and the subsequent OSTP guidance: to undo science that is politically …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Education, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Housing, Legal Research, Search Engines, Transportation

Project 2025 Tracker – many goals and objectives met quickly

“Project 2025 Tracker began as a humble spreadsheet created by /u/rusticgorilla, combined with /u/mollynaquafina‘s vision for making this information accessible to everyone through a dedicated website. What started as a passion project by two Redditors has grown into a community-driven resource, powered by people like you who believe in the importance of transparent, detailed analysis.” …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

U.S. Copyright Office Replaces Online Public Catalog with Copyright Public Records System

“Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is pleased to announce that the Copyright Public Records System (CPRS) has replaced its Online Public Catalog. CPRS provides copyright registration and recordation data with advanced search capabilities, filters, and improved interfaces for public users and Office staff. CPRS is the second component of the Office’s Enterprise Copyright System (ECS) …

Subjects: Copyright, E-Government, E-Records, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

dataindex.us – America’s Data Index

dataindex.us – “Monitoring America’s federal data infrastructure from dataset availability and new releases to planned and unplanned changes to collections. We are currently monitoring 23 datasets and have tracked 402 change requests to data collections in the last 30 days. Change Requests – For most data collected from the federal government, all changes, even minor …

Subjects: E-Government, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

COG Regional Crime Dashboard brings near real-time info about crime around the region

Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: “The COG Regional Crime Dashboard provides a high-level understanding of local and regional crime trends from recent days to 2002. The dashboard examines the following offenses against people and property: homicide, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, motor vehicle theft, burglary, and larceny. Real-time data in the crime dashboard is classified using …

Subjects: E-Government, E-Records, Legal Research

GitHub is Leaking Trump’s Plans to ‘Accelerate’ AI Across Government

404 Media – The federal government is working on a website and API called “ai.gov” to “accelerate government innovation with AI” that is supposed to launch on July 4 and will include an analytics feature that shows how much a specific government team is using AI, according to an early version of the website and …

Subjects: AI, E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Search Engines

Inside the AI Prompts DOGE Used to “Munch” Contracts Related to Veterans’ Health

ProPublica: “When an AI script written by a Department of Government Efficiency employee came across a contract for internet service, it flagged it as cancelable. Not because it was waste, fraud or abuse — the Department of Veterans Affairs needs internet connectivity after all — but because the model was given unclear and conflicting instructions. …

Subjects: AI, E-Government, E-Records, Legal Research

TSA Working on Haptic Tech To ‘Feel’ Your Body in Virtual Reality

404 Media: “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are researching an incredibly wild virtual reality technology that would allow TSA agents to use VR goggles and haptic feedback gloves to allow them to pat down and feel airline passengers at security checkpoints without actually touching them. The agency calls this …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Defense, E-Government, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

DOGE Track – Tracking The Damage

Jacob Harris, DOGE Track: “We are now several months into the second Trump presidency. It’s been hard keeping track of all that is being damaged and lost within the federal government. Emboldened by Musk and the absence of oversight, the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) has been rampaging through agencies to subvert their security, …

Subjects: Congress, Defense, E-Government, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy