Last Friday marked the completion of the rolling review and release of the final records still publicly withheld from the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection. The Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) acknowledges the importance of the completion of the rolling release of these records, but we must note with disappointment failure of the responsible … Continue reading Completion of the JFK Records Rolling Release
Category: Declassification
State Department Releases Historically Significant Records on Human Rights Abuses in Argentina
Yesterday, President Trump presented Argentine President Mauricio Macri with a CD containing approximately 3,300 pages of records relating to human rights abuses committed in Argentina between 1975 and 1984. The documents are part of a comprehensive interagency project by 14 Government departments and agencies to search their archives and identify and review for public access … Continue reading State Department Releases Historically Significant Records on Human Rights Abuses in Argentina
The Importance of Sunshine Week
This week is Sunshine Week, an annual initiative that seeks to educate the public about the importance of openness in government. Each year during mid-March, organizations dedicated to advocating for a more open government hold events around the nation to discuss the various ways we can hold our government accountable to the people by limiting … Continue reading The Importance of Sunshine Week
Prioritization of Presidential Library Records: The Argentina Declassification Project Releases Records Online
Yesterday, the White House announced the declassification and release of records related to human rights abuses committed under Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship. The President committed to prioritizing the declassification of these records in March 2016, including the release for the first time of records from U.S. intelligence, law enforcement, and defense agencies. You can view the … Continue reading Prioritization of Presidential Library Records: The Argentina Declassification Project Releases Records Online
“There’s classified, and then there’s classified:” Tangible Steps to Fix the Classification and Declassification System by Nate Jones, National Security Archive
For the Public Interest Declassification Board: The former head of the Information Security Oversight Office, responsible for oversight of the US classification system, has acknowledged that classification officials joke that “you could easily classify the ham sandwich.”[1] Barack Obama has summarized the tension between the public’s right to know and the necessity for the government … Continue reading “There’s classified, and then there’s classified:” Tangible Steps to Fix the Classification and Declassification System by Nate Jones, National Security Archive
Clarify and Delimit Scope of Classified “Methods,” by Patrice McDermott, OpentheGovernment.org
A White Paper Submission to the PIDB: Section 102(d)(3) of the National Security Act of 1947 (1) makes the Director of National Intelligence responsible for protecting intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure. The director has "very broad authority to protect all sources of intelligence information from disclosure."(2) As has been regularly noted, though, almost … Continue reading Clarify and Delimit Scope of Classified “Methods,” by Patrice McDermott, OpentheGovernment.org
Eight Steps to Reduce Overclassification and Rescue Declassification by Elizabeth Goitein, The Brennan Center for Justice
A White Paper Submission to the PIDB: In a political climate where consensus is rare, there is remarkably little dispute about the need for classification reform. Officials from Democratic and Republican administrations agree that far too much information is unnecessarily classified and that the current declassification process is wholly inadequate to handle the oncoming wave … Continue reading Eight Steps to Reduce Overclassification and Rescue Declassification by Elizabeth Goitein, The Brennan Center for Justice
Modernizing the National Security Classification and Declassification Systems Through the Next Administration’s Executive Order, by Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists
A White Paper Submission to the PIDB: Thank you to Chairman Morrison and to the Board for getting this conversation started. Assuming that the next Administration will in fact prepare a new executive order on classification policy, I would like to propose two specific steps for consideration: (1) a new procedure for considering declassification of … Continue reading Modernizing the National Security Classification and Declassification Systems Through the Next Administration’s Executive Order, by Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists
Declassification Technology Update from the Center for Content Understanding (CCU)
Yesterday, PIDB member Sanford Ungar attended a briefing by Dr. Cheryl Martin entitled, Decision Support Technology for Records Declassification Review and Release. Dr. Martin’s briefing was jointly sponsored by the ODNI and CIA as part of the research supporting the Congressionally-Directed Action tasked by House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to the Director of National Intelligence … Continue reading Declassification Technology Update from the Center for Content Understanding (CCU)
It’s Always Sunny in Washington
The PIDB continues to hold to the principle of an Open Government recognizing that an informed citizenry strengthens our democracy. We realize that more work needs to be done on the important commitments articulated in the Third National Action Plan for Open Government, particularly streamlining the declassification process. Related to this initiative to limit secrecy … Continue reading It’s Always Sunny in Washington