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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? [Fri, 4-Jul-2003 4:04 AM]
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[music |Siouxsie and the Banshees -- Sin In My Heart]

It's IMDB for Government!

GIA: Government Information Awareness

Mission: To empower citizens by providing a single, comprehensive, easy-to-use repository of information on individuals, organizations, and corporations related to the government of the United States of America. To allow citizens to submit intelligence about government-related issues, while maintaining their anonymity. To allow members of the government a chance to participate in the process.

Context: In the United States, there is a widening gap between a citizen's ability to monitor his or her government and the government's ability to monitor a citizen. Average citizens have limited access to important government records, while available information is often illegible. Meanwhile, the government's eagerness and means to oversee a citizen's personal activity is rapidly increasing.

As the government broadens internal surveillance, and collaborates with private institutions to access data on the public, it is crucial that we maintain a symmetry of accountability. If we believe the United States should be a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" it is of central importance to provide citizens with the power to oversee their government. At least as much effort should be spent building tools to facilitate citizens supervising their government as tools to help the government monitor individuals.

linkReply

Comments:
[User Picture]From: [info]nugget
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 4:46 AM (UTC)

Wow. This is great. Thanks for the link.

(Link)

From the FAQ:

Q: Is this legal?
A: It should be.

Gotta respect that.
[User Picture]From: [info]curgoth
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 7:34 AM (UTC)

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Possibly a good step towards the kind of transparent society that David Brin keeps talking about.
From: [info]blackthorne6
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 10:25 AM (UTC)

Thank you.

(Link)

You know..I am glad I have you on my friends list. While I do not know you, I find that many of your posts are very informative and make me say.."Wha? Waitagoddamnminute!!!"
Thank you,
You are the best!
[User Picture]From: [info]aug
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 11:45 AM (UTC)

opensecrets.org

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i'll see that and raise you www.opensecrets.org .
[User Picture]From: [info]ooshiny
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 12:14 PM (UTC)

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oooo... *tents fingers* excellent.
[User Picture]From: [info]1eyedkunt
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 4:09 PM (UTC)

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neato! thanks! that's the best i've seen thus far, though i think it's going to have to be formatted to be even more simple and accessible if they really want to encourage broad usage.
From: [info]devpreed
Fri, 4-Jul-2003 6:18 PM (UTC)

Neat, but...

(Link)

... it still has some problems:

From http://opengov.media.mit.edu/ex?D=300053 (the linked picture above):

Born: Jan 1, 2022
Age: -19
[User Picture]From: [info]jwz
Sat, 5-Jul-2003 2:57 PM (UTC)

Re: Neat, but...

(Link)

Also, that's a picture of Rumsfeld, not Hollings.

But hey, these things take some time to self-organize... I believe it only went online on the 4th.
From: [info]devpreed
Sun, 6-Jul-2003 11:29 AM (UTC)

Re: Neat, but...

(Link)

Yeah, I had noticed that, too... although, maybe that's CPAN's fault more than it is the site's.