Transparency in Jeopardy

By Peter Swire | February 20, 2007

Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Peter Swire reviews Alasdair Roberts' new book Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age in the most recent Issues in Science and Technology. Swire finds that Roberts provides an excellent history of how government accountability has been maintained through information disclosure. Roberts also identifies key areas of current concern, including how government agencies use information-sharing programs to reduce information sharing with the public. Roberts is less successful, however, in providing a useful theory of how to provide transparency when governments are confronted with demands for homeland and national security.

Read the full review:

• Transparency in Jeopardy

Read about Peter Swire's approach to transparency and security:

• A Model for When Disclosure Helps Security: What is Different About Computer and Network Security?
• A Theory of Disclosure for Security and Competitive Reasons: Open Source, Proprietary Software, and Government Agencies