CDT: Technology Can Provide Needed Transparency for Government Programs
CDT told a congressional panel today that providing the public with direct, online access to complex government programs, such as TARP, would strengthen oversight. Media, watchdog groups, researchers and citizens could then better analyze the data for a wide variety of purposes. CDT asked the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to ensure that legislation explicitly require that TARP resources be made available to the public on the Web. CDT also noted that more sophisticated data–such as location and mapping data–are being collected today by government agencies; however, aging federal privacy law needs to be updated to ensure these new types of information are protected as well.