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posted by martyb on Wednesday December 26 2018, @07:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the information-wants-to-be-free dept.

Congress approves act that opens US government data to the public

Congress has passed a bill that could make it easier for you to access public data released by the government. The House approved the OPEN Government Data Act on Saturday, while all eyes were on the shutdown, as part of a larger bill to support evidence-based policymaking. It requires that federal agencies must publish any "non-sensitive" info in a "machine-readable" format (essentially in a way that's legible on your smartphone or laptop). The act also insists that agencies appoint a chief data officer to oversee all open data efforts. Having passed the Senate last Wednesday, the bill is next headed to the President's desk.

The US public already paid for the data to be gathered, analyzed, and reported; why shouldn't they be able to freely access it?


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 27 2018, @03:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 27 2018, @03:25PM (#779001)

    only cowards, idiots, sell-outs and traitors fund the scum at the IRS