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11.0AcquisitionUseandDisseminationofInformation.pptx
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Acquisition, Use, and Dissemination of Information: A System of Information Policy

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James Madison wrote:

“A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or, perhaps both.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance.

And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives.”

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Government is Information

Government is one of the most important collectors, custodians, users, and sources of information in our society.

The sheer volume of information that’s collected must be managed, protected, or accessed is quite overwhelming.

Trying to obtain information from cyberspace has often been compared to the attempt to take a drink from a fire hose.

Because the system of information law has accumulated in an ad hoc fashion over time it is important

for the researcher to be aware of the confusing concept of information.

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The Information Paradox and Associated Problems

In a society that depends upon administrative experts for the implementation of its policy judgments, much of the information needed to govern must

be acquired, digested, and used by administrative agencies.

Note: Liberty is impossible where there is no privacy.

Even organizations we require to advance our personal and professional interest in a modern society must have

a modicum of privacy to survive and be effective.

In reality, the constitutional framers, legislators, judges, and administrators have developed rules

limiting what kind of information government may acquire,

how it may be obtained,

and what may be done with it.

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Privacy

Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves, or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively.

The boundaries and content of what is considered private differ among cultures and individuals, but share common themes.

When something is private to a person, it usually means that something is

inherently special or sensitive to them.

The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security (confidentiality), which can include

the concepts of appropriate use, as well as protection of information.

Privacy may also take the form of bodily integrity.

The right not to be subjected to unsanctioned invasions of privacy by the government, corporations or individuals is part of

many countries' privacy laws, and in some cases, constitutions.

All countries have laws which in some way limit privacy. An example of this would be

law concerning taxation, which normally requires the sharing of information about personal income or earnings.

Privacy may be voluntarily sacrificed, normally in exchange for perceived benefits and very often with specific dangers and losses, although this is a very strategic view of human relationships.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy

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Freedom of Information Act (United States)

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), is a federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government upon request.

The Act defines

agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure procedures, and defines nine exemptions to the statute. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act into law on July 4, 1966, and it went into effect the following year.

As indicated by its long title, FOIA was actually extracted from its original home in Section 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The amendment required agencies to publish their rules of procedure in the Federal Register and to make available for public inspection and

copying their opinions, statements of policy, interpretations, and staff manuals and instructions that are not already published in the Federal Register.

In addition, it requires every agency, "upon any request for records which ... reasonably describes such records" to make such records "promptly available to any person.“

If an agency improperly withholds any documents, the district court has jurisdiction to order their production.

Unlike the review of other agency action that must be upheld if supported by substantial evidence and not arbitrary or capricious, FOIA expressly places the burden "on the agency to sustain its action," and directs the district courts to "determine the matter de novo."

The federal government's Freedom of Information Act should not be confused with

the different and varying freedom of information law enacted by the individual states.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_States)

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Privacy Act of 1974

The Privacy Act of 1974 enacted December 31, 1974, a United States federal law, establishes a Code of Fair Information Practice that

governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies.

A system of records is a group of records under the control of an agency from which information is

retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual.

The Privacy Act requires that agencies give the public notice of their systems of records by publication in the Federal Register.

The Privacy Act prohibits the disclosure of information from a system of records absent of the written consent of the subject individual, unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions.

The Act also provides individuals with a means by which to seek access to and amendment of their records and sets forth various agency record-keeping requirements.

Additionally, with people granted the right to review what was documented with their name, they are also able to find out if the "records have been disclosed".. and are also given the rights to make corrections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_Act_of_1974

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Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 ("FISA") is a United States federal law which establishes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of

"foreign intelligence information" between "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers" suspected of espionage or terrorism.

The Act created the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to oversee requests for

surveillance warrants by federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

The FISA resulted from extensive investigations by Senate Committees into the legality of domestic intelligence activities.

These investigations were as a response to President Richard Nixon’s usage of federal resources, including law enforcement agencies, to spy on political and activist groups.

The law itself was crafted in large part in closed door meetings between legislators and members of the Justice Department.

The act was created to provide judicial and congressional oversight of the government's covert surveillance activities of foreign entities and individuals in the United States,

while maintaining the secrecy needed to protect national security.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Act#Criticism

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Changing Times

One of the critical factors that has our ability to produce comprehensive, effective, and workable information policies derives from the fact that the target keeps moving.

Technology is out pacing our laws.

Today’s changing computer technology makes it possible to collect, handle, and distribute incredible amounts of information very quickly

, not only within systems but across systems as well.

Using databases available from third parties, it is possible to acquire substantial amounts of information without asking the subject for anything and in a form that

bears little relationship to the old idea of information as a tangible property that can be found in a locked filing cabinet.

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Questions

What happens with information that is or might be offered as evidence matters for a variety of obvious reasons,

but also for reasons that might not be readily apparent?

For example, public managers can very well find themselves facing demands for information that they cannot reveal because

of a legal settlement that included in its terms a ban against disclosure.

Another nightmare that screams importance to the public manager is the concern of whether the information qualifies as private property, since property is protected by patent and copyright laws

as well as constitutionally secured against a taking by government for public use without just compensation.

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The System Of Information Policy

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Core Statutory Elements

Constitution

E-Government Act;

Additional Statutory Elements

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act;

Homeland Security Act;

Environmental Factors

Political Pressure

Market Forces

Right to Privacy Act;

Freedom of Information Act:

Government in the Sunshine Act;

Federal Advisory Committee Act

USA Patriot Act;

Computer Security Act

Clinger Cohen Act;

Paperwork Elimination Act:

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act

Globalization

Technological Innovation

National Security

Intergovernmental Relations

Government in the Sunshine Act

The Government in the Sunshine Act , enacted September 13, 1976, is a U.S. law passed in 1976 that affects the operations of the federal government, Congress, federal commissions,

and other legally constituted federal bodies.

It is one of a number of Freedom of Information Acts, intended to

create greater transparency in government.

"The Sunshine Act provides, with ten specified exemptions, that 'every portion of every meeting of an agency

shall be open to public observation.”

It imposes procedural requirements to ensure that advance notice is given to the public before agency meetings take place.

It also imposes procedural requirements an agency must follow before determining that one of the ten exemptions from the openness requirement applies.

However, neither the openness requirement, nor the related procedural requirements, are triggered unless

the governmental entity at issue is an 'agency,' and unless the gathering in question is a 'meeting' of the agency."

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Working with the System

The system of information law indicates this a complex and growing aspect of law and administration.

Their appears to a general approach to information practices.

In order to answer specific questions regarding information policy, it is essential to

tie the particular provisions govern administrative activity to the more general premises of the system.

The key is not merely in interpreting the exemptions of the FOIA or Right to Privacy Act but to

making the linkages among the fragmented but interconnected pieces that make up the system.

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