Questa mi piace da matti. Open Government Information Awareness è un sito, creato da un assistente del MIT Media Lab e da un suo allievo, che mantiene un database sui pubblici ufficiali americani, aggregando dati da tutte le fonti pubbliche, e che permette l’aggiornamento anche da parte degli anonimi lettori.
Mission
To empower citizens by providing a single, comprehensive, easy-to-use repository of information on individuals, organizations, and corporations related to the government of the United States of America.
To allow citizens to submit intelligence about government-related issues, while maintaining their anonymity. To allow members of the government a chance to participate in the process.
Context
In the United States, there is a widening gap between a citizen’s ability to monitor his or her government and the government’s ability to monitor a citizen. Average citizens have limited access to important government records, while available information is often illegible. Meanwhile, the government’s eagerness and means to oversee a citizen’s personal activity is rapidly increasing.
As the government broadens internal surveillance, and collaborates with private institutions to access data on the public, it is crucial that we maintain a symmetry of accountability. If we believe the United States should be a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” it is of central importance to provide citizens with the power to oversee their government. At least as much effort should be spent building tools to facilitate citizens supervising their government as tools to help the government monitor individuals.
Purtroppo il sito è stato slashdottato e in questo momento non funziona. Ma c’è qualcuno che vuole fare una cosa del genere anche in Italia, e vuole una mano?
(dal Boston Globe, via bmoeasy)