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C D T P O L I C Y P O S T
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A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES
AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE
from
THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY
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Volume 5, Number 13 June 28, 1999
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CONTENTS:
(1) WANTED! CDT and OMB Watch Seek Missing Government Documents
(2) What You Can Do
(3) Subscription Information
(4) About the Center for Democracy and Technology
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Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of ari@cdt.org
This document is also available at:
http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_5.13.html
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(1) CDT AND OMB WATCH SEEK MISSING GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
Is the federal government putting on the Internet the information that you
need? Are there categories of unclassified information - data you know
exist on paper or in government computers - that would be of value to the
public if posted and regularly updated on an agency's Web site? CDT and OMB
Watch are seeking to identify the 10 most wanted government documents,
reports or data sets that should be on the Web - but are missing in action
due to the failure of the government to use the Internet fully.
The Internet has obvious advantages for making government information
available to the public at no cost. But the record of federal usage of the
Internet is spotty. We know that there are documents of obvious public
interest that the government has not yet put online.
For example, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) uses taxpayer dollars
to produce excellent reports on public policy issues ranging from foreign
affairs to agriculture to health care. These reports are posted online, but
on an internal system available only to Congressional offices through a
password. Citizens can order these reports through their member of
Congress, but only by mail, and the general public cannot search through
past reports. Some listings of reports are haphazardly made available, but,
basically, you have to guess whether there is a report on a subject of
concern to you. What a waste - making it difficult to know what research
has been done and wasting more taxpayer dollars through requesting the
reports in hardcopy.
Many people are concerned that government agencies are not putting
documents on the Internet that that they are required by law to make
available to the public in electronic form. Others have pointed out
specific courts and court opinions that have not been made available to the
public on the Net.
For more information on the Public's Right-to-Know, please see CDT' Access
to Government Information page: http://www.cdt.org/righttoknow/
and OMB Watch's Information Policy page:
http://ombwatch.org/www/ombw/info/govhome.html
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(2) WHAT YOU CAN DO!
To bring pressure to bear on the government to make better use of the
Internet, CDT and OMB Watch are searching for categories of information
that would significantly benefit researchers, reporters, communities and
individuals. Send us your nomination: a report written by a federal agency,
maps or data sets created through government research projects, or judicial
decisions and court proceedings that are available on paper but not online.
We will pick the ten most egregious cases and then we will use OMB, the
Congress and the media to publicize them until the agencies respond.
Either fill out the brief form at
http://www.cdt.org/righttoknow/10mostwanted Or simply send a message to
10mostwanted@cdt.org by August 1, 1999. Tell us if you are a researcher or
student, a government employee, or just a concerned citizen. Please also
let us know if you work for an organization or if you are just representing
yourself. Your name will be kept confidential.
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(3) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Be sure you are up to date on the latest public policy issues affecting
civil liberties online and how they will affect you! Subscribe to the CDT
Policy Post news distribution list. CDT Policy Posts, the regular news
publication of the Center for Democracy and Technology, are received by
Internet users, industry leaders, policymakers, the news media and
activists, and have become the leading source for information about
critical free speech and privacy issues affecting the Internet and other
interactive communications media.
To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to
majordomo@cdt.org
In the BODY of the message (leave the SUBJECT LINE BLANK), type
subscribe policy-posts
If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, send mail to the above
address with NOTHING IN THE SUBJECT LINE and a BODY TEXT of:
unsubscribe policy-posts
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(4) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop
and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and
constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications
technologies.
Contacting us:
General information: info@cdt.org
World Wide Web: http://www.cdt.org/
Snail Mail: The Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006
(v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968
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End Policy Post 5.13
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Ari Schwartz
Policy Analyst
Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
202 637 9800
fax 202 637 0968
ari@cdt.org
http://www.cdt.org
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