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Rights-Based and Tech-Driven: Open Data, Freedom of Information, and the Future of Government Transparency
Abstract
Open data policy mandates that government proactively publish its data online for the public to reuse. It is a radically different approach to transparency than traditional right-to-know strategies as embodied in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) legislation in that it involves ex ante rather than ex post disclosure of whole datasets. Although both open data and FOIA deal with information sharing, the normative essence of open data is participation rather than litigation. By fostering public engagement, open data shifts the relationship between state and citizen from a monitorial to a collaborative one, centered around using information to solve problems together. This Essay explores the theory and practice of open data in comparison to FOIA and highlights its uses as a tool for advancing human rights, saving lives, and strengthening democracy. Although open data undoubtedly builds upon the fifty-year legal tradition of the right to know about the workings of one's government, open data does more than advance government accountability. Rather, it is a distinctly twenty-first century governing practice borne out of the potential of big data to help solve society's biggest problems. Thus, this Essay charts a thoughtful path toward a twenty-first century transparency regime that takes advantage of and blends the strengths of open data's collaborative and innovation-centric approach and the adversarial and monitorial tactics offreedom of information regimes.
Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
I. How OPEN DATA DIFFERS FROM FREEDOM OF INFORMATION POLICY
A. Differences in Timing
B. Differences in Information Types
C. Differences in Audience
II. THE OPEN DATA MOVEMENT: THE FUEL FOR DATA-DRIVEN ACTIVISM
A. History of U.S. Federal Initiatives in Open Data
B. Other Governments, Corporations, Civil Society: The Open Data Movement Takes Hold
III. FROM DATA TO ACTION: OPEN DATA'S IMPACTS
A. Analytical Opportunities
B. The Social Impacts of Open Data.
IV. THE MORAL DATA ECONOMY: OPEN DATA, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND DEVELOPMENT
A. Facilitating Empirical Social Science, Investigative Journalism, and Consumer Protection
B. Advancing Civil Rights and Other Public Interest Litigation by Revealing Disparate Impacts
C. Assessing the Effectiveness and Fairness of Institutions of Justice
D. Uncovering Human Rights Abuses
E. Reducing Abuse and Enhancing the Impact of Development Assistance..
V. OPEN DATA AND FOIA: COMPLEMENT NOT REPLACEMENT
A. Open Data's Potential Shortcomings
B. Proposals for Enhancing Both FOIA and Open Data
VI. CONCLUSION
Open data policy mandates that government proactively publish its data online for the public to reuse. It is a radically different approach to transparency than traditional right-to-know strategies as embodied in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) legislation in that it involves ex ante rather than ex post disclosure of whole datasets. Although both open data and FOIA deal with information sharing, the normative essence of open data is participation rather than litigation. By fostering public engagement, open data shifts the relationship between state and citizen from a monitorial to a collaborative one, centered around using information to solve problems together. This Essay explores the theory and practice of open data in comparison to FOIA and highlights its uses as a tool for advancing human rights, saving lives, and strengthening democracy. Although open data undoubtedly builds upon the fifty-year legal tradition of the right to know about the workings of one's government, open data does more than advance government accountability. Rather, it is a distinctly twenty-first century governing practice borne out of the potential of big data to help solve society's biggest problems. Thus, this Essay charts a thoughtful path toward a twenty-first century transparency regime that takes advantage of and blends the strengths of open data's collaborative and innovation-centric approach and the adversarial and monitorial tactics offreedom of information regimes.
Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
I. How OPEN DATA DIFFERS FROM FREEDOM OF INFORMATION POLICY
A. Differences in Timing
B. Differences in Information Types
C. Differences in Audience
II. THE OPEN DATA MOVEMENT: THE FUEL FOR DATA-DRIVEN ACTIVISM
A. History of U.S. Federal Initiatives in Open Data
B. Other Governments, Corporations, Civil Society: The Open Data Movement Takes Hold
III. FROM DATA TO ACTION: OPEN DATA'S IMPACTS
A. Analytical Opportunities
B. The Social Impacts of Open Data.
IV. THE MORAL DATA ECONOMY: OPEN DATA, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND DEVELOPMENT
A. Facilitating Empirical Social Science, Investigative Journalism, and Consumer Protection
B. Advancing Civil Rights and Other Public Interest Litigation by Revealing Disparate Impacts
C. Assessing the Effectiveness and Fairness of Institutions of Justice
D. Uncovering Human Rights Abuses
E. Reducing Abuse and Enhancing the Impact of Development Assistance..
V. OPEN DATA AND FOIA: COMPLEMENT NOT REPLACEMENT
A. Open Data's Potential Shortcomings
B. Proposals for Enhancing Both FOIA and Open Data
VI. CONCLUSION
45 pages, Unknown Binding
Published February 8, 2018
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 15, 2022
Excellent but cautiously optimistic introduction to the distinctions and complementarity of data available under Open Data (particularly but not limited to government-based) and data available from Freedom of Information Act-based sources. The essay references many interesting examples.
I would have liked to see some additional material about open data quality.
I would have liked to see some additional material about open data quality.
Displaying 1 of 1 review