Security and Secrecy

Articles & Analysis

Government Transparency in 2011: Moving the Chains

Heading into the holiday season, many Americans think not just of gifts and snowdrifts, but also of another winter tradition: football. As it happens, gridiron analogies are a good way to think about the year's events in the arena of government transparency and right-to-know. In March, OMB Watch published an assessment of President Obama's first two seasons as coach, which showed remarkable progress for Team Transparency. Throughout 2011, Obama and his staff made strong decisions, but there were also a few setbacks along the way.

Administration Identifies Unclassified Information to be Safeguarded

On Nov. 4, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) released the initial registry of controlled unclassified information (CUI) categories. When fully implemented, the categories listed in the CUI registry will be the only labels that agencies can use to identify unclassified information that requires safeguarding or dissemination controls.

National Archives Launches Initial CUI Registry

(Gavin Baker 11/04/11; 2 comments)

Commentary: Progress, Pitfalls in Addressing Government Secrecy 10 Years after 9/11

Sunday marked the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This is an appropriate time to look back on what happened to government openness and access to information in the aftermath of the attacks. It seems that after 9/11, government officials stopped believing that Americans could be trusted with information – about their communities, about risks and dangers they could face, and about government actions on their behalf. Withholding information from citizens is a slippery slope for any democracy, yet over the past decade, government secrecy has expanded under the misguided belief that sacrificing citizen access to government information would somehow make us more secure.

How to Strengthen Transparency in the U.S. Open Government Plan

(Gavin Baker 09/01/11; 3 comments)

Secret Watchlists: Don’t Ask, Because Uncle Sam Won’t Tell

(Gavin Baker 08/08/11; 3 comments)

Agency Rules Could Undermine CUI Reforms

A proposed Department of Defense (DOD) rule has the open government community concerned that agencies may try to undermine the Obama administration's emerging controlled unclassified information (CUI) system before it is even formally in place.

Chemical Bill Keeps Americans in Harm’s Way, Weakens National Security

(Sofia Plagakis 06/23/11; 0 comments)

Administration Lays Foundation for New CUI System

Seven months after President Obama issued an executive order on controlled unclassified information (CUI), the outlines of a new CUI system are taking shape. On June 9, the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) CUI office released initial guidance on implementing the order.