Place Everything Public Online Unless the Law Says Otherwise
Right now the discretion to place legally public government information online lies with agencies and not the law. Switch this premise around by adding a legal category that says, "public but online dissemination not required. If it is not limited by the law, then put it online for all by default. Period. This would not change access to legally protected/national security information. Piecemeal legislation to require ...more »
Right now the discretion to place legally public government information online lies with agencies and not the law. Switch this premise around by adding a legal category that says, "public but online dissemination not required. If it is not limited by the law, then put it online for all by default. Period. This would not change access to legally protected/national security information.
Piecemeal legislation to require proactive disclosure of spending information is only a first step.
While over exposure of legally public information about individuals should be constrained (there is some value in not having everything in Google even if people can legally request access), government needs to work differently than our natural tendency to keep information close to the chest.
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