Archives: January, 2009
WRITTEN ON Saturday, January 24th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Foundation of Trust, Power of Information, What do we want?
Yeah. And this too is much closer to ideal: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Freedom of Information Act A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is [...]
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WRITTEN ON Saturday, January 24th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Design: Co-creation, Foundation of Trust, Power of Information, What do we want?
This is much more closer to ideal: For Immediate Release January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a [...]
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WRITTEN ON Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 BY David Moss AND STORED IN Uncategorized
… with one step towards ideal government: At Prime Minister’s Question Time, Gordon Brown announced that the bid to exempt Parliament from the Freedom of Information Act, under which the expenses were due to be published, would be abandoned …
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WRITTEN ON Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Political engagement
It’s Obama party day. Hurrah! Pray nothing bad happens. Interesting piece on the geeks behind Obama’s web strategy: the people, the history, and the question of where it goes now (Boston Globe) It’s far from clear whether all of this amounts to substantive change, or merely represents a patina of changelike communications. Obama’s campaign promised [...]
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WRITTEN ON Monday, January 19th, 2009 BY Ruth Kennedy AND STORED IN Design: user-oriented, What do we want?
Oh no. How very disappointing. I’m trying to help the government by completing my self assessment for 07-08 online. I’m trying to be good and early-ish (there’s 2 weeks to go and I am here, with all the paperwork, ready to log in to the Government Gateway using that remarkably unmemorable pin number. BUT! I [...]
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WRITTEN ON Friday, January 16th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Data nitwittery, Foundation of Trust, What do we want?
And the data nitwittery continues apace, with new rules to allow the abuse of our data on an industrial scale:(from Guardian) Controversial fast-track powers to remove the barriers to the widespread bulk sharing of personal data across Whitehall departments and throughout the public sector were unveiled yesterday by the justice secretary, Jack Straw. The powers [...]
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WRITTEN ON Friday, January 16th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Data nitwittery, Foundation of Trust, Identity, What do we want?
I’ve put some thoughts on the appointment of the new Information Commissioner Chris Graham on my personal blog If the appointment is confirmed after the MPs’ hearing, Chris will take over as our only real official bulwark against official secrecy, surveillance society and database state. Our bulwark is their obstacle – to data sharing, CRM-driven [...]
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WRITTEN ON Thursday, January 15th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Foundation of Trust, What do we want?
Phew! The idea of a “war on terror” is a “mistake”, putting too much emphasis on military force, Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said. Writing in the Guardian, Mr Miliband said the idea had unified disparate “terrorist groups” against the West. He said the right response to the threat was to champion law and human [...]
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WRITTEN ON Monday, January 12th, 2009 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Data nitwittery, Foundation of Trust, What do we want?
Conditions remain highly favourable to those wishing to steal our data from govermment. See this report from the FT (cheers Glyn!). Loss of 30m files fails to end risky procedures By Rob Minto Published: January 12 2009 02:00 | Last updated: January 12 2009 02:00 Staff in some of the biggest government departments, as well [...]
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WRITTEN ON Saturday, January 10th, 2009 BY Ruth Kennedy AND STORED IN Foundation of Trust, Identity, What do we want?
I was interested to see the reports today of the DPP Keir Starmer QC’s briefing on the so-called superdatabase of communications data. Interestingly, there seems to be a real polarisation of the reporting of his views. The Guardian sub-editing states “Plan for Superdatabse for all Calls and Emails Legitimate, says DPP”. Keir Starmer QC did [...]
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