The EPA Gave Its Website a Pro-Fracking Makeover
A new report from the Environmental Data & Governance Initiative has chronicled the changes the EPA made to its webpage on fracking. Continue reading The EPA Gave Its Website a Pro-Fracking Makeover
Category Archives: transparency
Obama-Shaped Ecstasy and Coke-Stuffed Globes Fill the DEA’s Deleted Drug Newsletter
Russ Kick, a transparency advocate who archives government websites, downloaded the publicly-available issues before they were deleted this summer. Continue reading Obama-Shaped Ecstasy and Coke-Stuffed Globes Fill the DEA’s Deleted Drug Newsletter
Google+ Privacy Snafu Leaves a Cloud Over the Tech Landscape
Google was caught not disclosing a potential data breach — leaving questions as to whether a lack of transparency is the new normal. Continue reading Google+ Privacy Snafu Leaves a Cloud Over the Tech Landscape
SpaceX Planned Humanity’s Future on Mars at a Meeting You Weren’t Invited to
Space belongs to all of us and it’s imperative that SpaceX is transparent about its Mars exploration plans. Continue reading SpaceX Planned Humanity’s Future on Mars at a Meeting You Weren’t Invited to
SpiderOak’s Warrant Canary Died
BoingBoing has the story. I have never quite trusted the idea of a warrant canary. But here it seems to have worked. (Presumably, if SpiderOak wanted to replace the warrant canary with a transparency report, they would have written something explaining their decision. To have it simply disappear is what we would expect if SpiderOak were being forced to comply… Continue reading SpiderOak’s Warrant Canary Died
The FCC Wants $200 to Release Emails About Ajit Pai’s Giant Reese’s Mug
This is just the latest example of the agency stonewalling FOIA requests on seemingly inconsequential topics. Continue reading The FCC Wants $200 to Release Emails About Ajit Pai’s Giant Reese’s Mug
The FCC Is Refusing to Release Emails About Ajit Pai’s ‘Harlem Shake’ Video
Citing the infamous b5 exemption, the Federal Communications Commission refused to release emails related to the planning of the net neutrality video. Continue reading The FCC Is Refusing to Release Emails About Ajit Pai’s ‘Harlem Shake’ Video
What’s the Deal with Transparent Aluminum?
It looks like a tube made of glass but it’s actually aluminum. Well, aluminum with an asterisk beside it — this is not elemental aluminum but rather a material made using it.
We got onto the buzz about “transparent aluminum” as a result of a Tweet from whence the image above came. This Tweet was posted by [Jo Pitesky], a Science Systems Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena. [Jo] reported that at a recent JPL technology open house she had the chance to handle a tube of material that looks for all the world like a section of …read more
Is It ‘Essential’ for the Government to Tweet During a Shutdown?
Some agencies have logged off during the government shutdown and some have not. Why? Continue reading Is It ‘Essential’ for the Government to Tweet During a Shutdown?
Detecting Stingrays
Researchers are developing technologies that can detect IMSI-catchers: those fake cell phone towers that can be used to surveil people in the area. This is good work, but it’s unclear to me whether these devices can detect all the newer IMSI-catchers that are being sold to governments worldwide. News article…. Continue reading Detecting Stingrays