Digital Media and Data Privacy Law Blog

The Obama Administration has denied msnbc.com and the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ("CREW") access to the names of White House visitors. The Obama Administration’s position on visitor logs is consistent with that of the Bush Administration—but appears to be inconsistent with President Obama’s promise of transparency and openness declared earlier this year.

Msnbc.com has the complete story, including its own FOIA request for the visitor logs, CREW’s related FOIA request, and a copy of the complaint filed by CREW on June 15, 2009, in the District ... Read More 

Today the Office of Science and Technology Policy published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comment on issues related to transparency and open government.

We reported earlier this year about President Obama’s transparency and open government memorandum signed on January 21, 2009—President Obama’s first full day in office. Among other things, this memorandum directed the Chief Technology Officer, along with the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration, to develop recommendations for an “Open Government ... Read More 

In a recent post, we reported that President Obama issued a Freedom of Information Act memorandum directing executive departments and agencies to administer FOIA with a presumption in favor of openness and a memorandum calling for transparency in government. President Obama recently took an additional step that appears to provide evidence of the administration’s continued commitment to open government: On February 26, 2009, President Obama submitted a budget for fiscal year 2010 that includes $1 million for the new Office of Government Information Services that would serve ... Read More 

On his first full day in office, President Barack Obama issued two memoranda to the heads of executive departments and agencies plainly declaring that government departments and agencies must be open for public scrutiny.

In the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) memorandum, President Obama directs executive departments and agencies to administer FOIA with a presumption in favor of openness. 

In the face of doubt, openness prevails.  The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors ...