Many arguments about government programs, particularly national security-related programs, come down to a tradeoff between open government and (supposedly) national security concerns. I propose a "time lock" concept whereby if the government claims an issues is too sensitive to disclose for national security reasons, then the issue can be put in a figurative or literal "vault" to be released without question in a fixed number of years. So, the information would eventually see the light of day and the public would know how valid the original natinal security concerns were.
Time Lock Concept for Government Data
Tags: national security privacy records
Comments (6)
Uh, they already do this.
Thanks for the very specific feedback Randal.
Then why is it not used when, for example, the executive branch requests that a lawsuit be dismissed as any discussion of it would harm national security? And our courts generally go along with this request. Why not use it in such situations?
Maybe I should modify my idea to be: Greatly expand the use of this technique to all areas of government that wrestle with the tradeoff of open government versus national security. Does that work for you randal?
We should have open access to all documents, etc. by our government.
Powell's son (father Powell of the U2 incident over Russia) said that state secrets are known by our enemy before the citizens of this country. It doesn't work to keep our enemies from getting them.
More commonly called sunset provisions. It is a valid concept.
I like time-lock as a description better, but to discuss it, use language that is recognized.