NFOIC – Page 383 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Texas Freedom of Information group honors citizens

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Robert and Maureen Decherd received the John Henry Faulk Award for Civic Virtue Friday from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. The former chairman, president and chief executive of The Dallas Morning News’ parent company, A.H. Belo Corporation, was a founder of the foundation that honored him. He served as its first president from 1978 to 1981.

The foundation periodically bestows the award to Texans who show outstanding civic involvement and enlightened philanthropy. It is named after the author and humorist who fought for free speech.

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Protecting your privacy is a good cause to support

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When someone goes to the doctor, they expect their medical information will be kept confidential. In the same way, when producers work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), they also want confidentiality.

Livestock and crop producers, for the most part, do not want the EPA sharing their names and other personal information with various organizations.

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FOIA exemptions provide ample cover for bureaucrats hiding agency secrets, transparency advocates say

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Black columns run vertically down 700 pages, devoid of any information about the federal workers who spent thousands of hours doing union work while on the government payroll.

This is what the U.S. Department of Agriculture considers public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

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Column: When Lawyers Fool with FOIA

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Two weeks ago, the city of Ann Arbor took a deliberate step to remove a document that had been publicly available on its website for nearly half a decade. Why?

Allegedly, that document contains information that – if it were disclosed – would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of someone’s privacy. Never mind the fact that the context of the document itself makes clear that the information in question is clearly and deliberately intended to be publicly available.

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Taxpayer Money Used for Gambling by Postal Service Employees

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To return to a point I’ve been hammering lately: this bloated government is stupid drunk on the trillions of dollars it has imbibed. There are far too many departments and agencies where outrageous abuse goes on for years before inspectors catch up with it. The results of these inspections are kept secret from taxpayers until someone – usually Fox News, or some other conservative media organization – drags it out into the open with a Freedom of Information Act request.

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The Next FOIA Fight: The B(5) “Withhold It Because You Want To” Exemption

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At the 16th Annual National Freedom of Information Day at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center, former White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein accepted the prestigious James Madison Award on behalf of the five-member President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technologies which recommended the end of bulk telephone metadata collection.

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City of Quincy (IL) gets failing grade in online transparency

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The Illinois Policy Institute has released the latest round of Local Transparency Project audit results, this time measuring the transparency levels of some of Illinois’ largest municipalities.

IPI just completed an audit of the websites of the 26th through 50th largest municipalities in the state. Online transparency levels varied wildly from community to community. Scores ranged from Lombard’s perfect 100 percent to Romeoville’s dismal 29.7 percent.

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Guest Opinion: Open Government: Building Trust and Civic Engagement

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Daily life has become inseparable from new technologies. Our phones and tablets let us shop from the couch, track how many miles we run, and keep in touch with friends across town and around the world – benefits barely possible a decade ago.

With respect to our communities, Uber and Lyft now shuttle us around town, reducing street traffic and parking problems. Adopt-a-Hydrant apps coordinate efforts to dig out hydrants after snowstorms, saving firefighters time when battling blazes. Change.org, helps millions petition for and effect social and political change.

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Federal open data opens doors for young entrepreneurs

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For 48 hours, more than 900 Canadian entrepreneurs, innovators and amateur developers from across the country combed though raw federal data.

Their goal: Translating that information into an app, with a chance to win $25,000. The government’s goal: Engage with the data community and get an app that helps Canadians in their everyday lives.

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Open government group questions Martinez policy

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NFOIC member the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government is asking Gov. Susana Martinez about the administration’s policy for handling information requests from the Legislature’s watchdog committees.

The questions were raised in response to a story by The Associated Press that Martinez agencies have told the Legislative Finance Committee and the Legislative Education Study Committee to send their information requests to the governor’s chief of staff for approval before an agency will respond.

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Author: NFOIC

Posts by NFOIC

Texas Freedom of Information group honors citizens

Protecting your privacy is a good cause to support

FOIA exemptions provide ample cover for bureaucrats hiding agency secrets, transparency advocates say

Column: When Lawyers Fool with FOIA

Taxpayer Money Used for Gambling by Postal Service Employees

The Next FOIA Fight: The B(5) “Withhold It Because You Want To” Exemption

City of Quincy (IL) gets failing grade in online transparency

Guest Opinion: Open Government: Building Trust and Civic Engagement

Federal open data opens doors for young entrepreneurs

Open government group questions Martinez policy