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NY Times Sues Government To Reveal ‘Secret’ Patriot Act Interpretation
Newspaper sues government to reveal 'secret' Patriot Act interpretation, By Zack Whittaker, ZDNet (October 12, 2011).
The New York Times is suing the U.S. government for refusing to divulge how its law enforcement interprets the Patriot Act. After a series of Freedom of Information requests were declined to reveal the classified interpretation of the Patriot Act -- a description that Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Mark Udall (D-Colorado) described as "deeply disturbing" -- the newspaper sought to battle it out in the courts. Some months ago, it was found that the Patriot Act was being interpreted by government departments in a way to aid their ongoing investigations, leading to calls that there was a "classified" element to the counter-terrorism law.Continue reading
HHS eliminated 36 website domains
Better check your links to MEDLARS, HIV.gov, TheDataWeb.gov, and 33 more HHS websites. They are all gone. "The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has formally notified GSA that it is relinquishing 21 domains. HHS is in the process of relinquishing additional sites and expects to have relinquished a total of 36 sites, 23 percent of the domains owned by the Department per the base GSA survey, by the end of September."
- HHS Interim Progress Report, HHS, Web Communications & New Media, Dot Gov Task Force (DGTF) (9/6/2011) The allocation of HHS Web resources is currently so fractured that no one knows the total annual Departmental investment in Web-related activities. ...HHS is an historically siloed entity, and its Web holdings reflect that legacy. The result is a Web experience that is not only antithetical to the concept of customer-centric design but is undeniably wasteful of precious resources. Like and related content is scattered across multiple office and program Websites, and the Googling customer is left to divine what content is relevant. Overcoming this entrenched culture will be the greatest challenge we face.
- A Brutal Self-Assessment of HHS' Web Presence, By Joseph Marks, NextGov (10/07/11).
House Floor Now Streams to Your Mobile Device
The Speaker announced live streaming is in beta and asked users to let the House know of difficulties.
- House Floor Now Streams to Your Mobile Device via HouseLive.gov, by Don Seymour, Speaker of the House John Boehner. Blog (October 11, 2011). You can now visit HouseLive.gov from your mobile phone or tablet for live video streaming from the House of Representatives. ...Anyone with a mobile device that has streaming capabilities now has access to video of what’s happening in Congress, as it happens.
Presidential Directives Withheld From White House Website
Presidential Directives Withheld From White House Website, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News (October 11th, 2011).
Last Friday, White House officials made at least two public references to Presidential Policy Directives (PPDs). PPD 1 was cited in a new executive order on computer security and PPD 8 was cited in a White House blog posting on disaster preparedness. Each Directive is a significant expression of national policy. Neither one is classified. And yet neither of them -- nor any other Obama Presidential Policy Directive -- can be found on the White House website. The White House decision not to make these documents available is a stark reminder of the incoherence of the Obama Administration's transparency policy, and its inconsistent implementation.Continue reading
DHS, White House, Privacy, Secrecy
Two stories in the news describe different approaches to government secrecy and citizen privacy:
- White House Orders New Computer Security Rules, By ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times (October 6, 2011) "The White House plans to issue an executive order on Friday to replace a flawed patchwork of computer security safeguards exposed by the disclosure of hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks last year. "...In addition to these immediate measures, Mr. Obama’s order creates a task force led by the attorney general and the director of national intelligence to combat leaks from government workers, or what the White House calls an “insider threat.” "The directive also establishes a special government committee that must submit a report to the president within 90 days, and then at least once a year after that, assessing federal successes and failures in protecting classified information on government computer networks. "...[Pentagon issued cyber identity] credentials allow supervisors to track what users are working on."
- Data Mining: DHS Needs to Improve Executive Oversight of Systems Supporting Counterterrorism, Government Accountability Office, GAO-11-742 (September 7, 2011). The report says that, until needed reforms are put in place the Department of Homeland Security and its component agencies "may not be able to ensure that critical data mining systems used in support of counterterrorism are both effective and that they protect personal privacy." "By not consistently performing necessary evaluations and reviews of these systems, DHS and its component agencies risk developing and acquiring systems that do not effectively support their agencies' missions and do not adequately ensure the protection of privacy-related information."
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