In Considering Transparency- FOIA
- kimberlysmith74
- Dec 22, 2022
- 2 min read
When discussing open government, open data, and transparency, my eyebrows rise considerably for several reasons. First, millions of people in the US have no idea what rights they have as citizens regarding the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA). That being said…millions do. Some of those who know their rights regarding FOIA may not necessarily use it in the way it was intended. These individuals request vast amounts of records to combine data to fit a specific narrative or Svengali-type situation that may not exist. Even still, the records given may not be the entire story…should be…but may not be. FOIA requires that you hand over specific data. You might get some of the information…but more than likely, you will not get all of the information. This may be for several reasons, not because of s underhandedness. But sometimes, trails go cold, or there is a lapse in information. This may occur because of turnover rates in certain departments where you are requesting the information. If it is passed a certain period, information may not be available. It also depends on how well those records are kept or who is in charge of storage and retrieval. Transparency is subjective at best. Your definition of transparency may be different from the government’s definition. According to the Pew Research Center, The Obama Administration, which was touted as having an excellent record in FOIA record request fulfillment, actually set a record in 2014 for the denial of FOIA requests. https://journalistsresource.org/politics-and-government/open-data-government-citizen-evaluations-first-national-survey-pew-research-center-2015/
However, according to AXIOS, an American news website, more FOIA requests were filed during the Trump administration than at any other time in American history. But the majority of these requests are filed by the media. This may hint that the public is still unaware of FOIA, transparency, or the initiative to make government data more open.
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