- Against Transparency | The New Republic
Disclosure requirements for federal elections are a century old next year. For more than three decades, we have known the names of everyone who gives significant amounts to a federal campaign. Or at least we have "known" them in the sense that if you hustled yourself to a government file cabinet, you could discover who contributed what--often months after the election, and often with the cabinet located far from any convenient place. To this day, practical matters work against practical access. In the Senate, for example, those names are reported to the FEC the old-fashioned way--on paper. Staffers for senators collect the data in sophisticated computer programs that make it simple to manage efficiently the most valuable data for any political campaign.
- Against Transparency | The New Republic
Brandeis thought that the numbers would shame bankers into offering terms that were more reasonable--a strategy that has been tried with executive compensation by the SEC, with the result not of shame, but jealousy, leading to even higher pay.
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"Targeted transparency"
Think about the requirement that car manufacturers publish average mile-per-gallon statistics for all new cars. We all can compare 36 mpg to 21 mpg. We all understand what that comparison means. That "targeted transparency" rule simplifies the data and presents it in a way that conveys meaningful information. Once simplified and standardized, it makes it possible for consumers to change the way the market works.
- Against Transparency | The New Republic
Where a member of Congress acts in a way inconsistent with his principles or his constituents, but consistent with a significant contribution, that act at least raises a question about the integrity of the decision. But beyond a question, the data says little else.
But then, so what? If the data does not tell us anything, what is the harm in producing it? Even if it does not prove, it suggests. And if it suggests something false, then let the offended legislator rebut it. The public will weigh the truth against the charge. Enter another Brandeisean cliché: "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies … the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." This sounds right.
- Against Transparency | The New Republic
Like a rash of flat-earth defenders, won’t the attention cause round-earth truth to spread? No doubt false claims will sometimes inspire more truth. But what about when the claims are neither true nor false? Or worse, when the claims actually require more than the 140 characters in a tweet?
This is the problem of attention-span. To understand something--an essay, an argument, a proof of innocence-- requires a certain amount of attention. But on many issues, the average, or even rational, amount of attention given to understand many of these correlations, and their defamatory implications, is almost always less than the amount of time required. If the story is reported in a context, or in a manner, that does not neutralize such misunderstanding. The listing and correlating of data hardly qualifies as such a context. Understanding how and why some stories will be understood, or not understood, provides the key to grasping what is wrong with the tyranny of transparency.
- Kent TV
User-directed web drama created by a County Council to engage young people in issues that affect them - 12000 registered users
- ConservativeHome's Local Government Blog: Windsor and Maidenhead Council opens up the books
Conservative run Windsor and Maidenhead is the most open about its money of any Council in Britain. It also has the lowest Council Tax of any unitary Council outside London. It leader Cllr David Burbage believes his is not just coincidence.
- Data.gov.uk Newspaper | Newspaper Club
We’ve been thinking about the beta Data.gov.uk repository, and wanted to explore putting some of the information contained within into people’s hands in a form that is accessible, timely, and relevant.
And perhaps unsurprisingly, we thought a good way to do that was with a newspaper. So here it is, the Postcode Paper:
- Birmingham City Council - DIY Community Version | Birmingham City Council | BCC, UK on BCCDIY
In response to the huge overspend and poor execution of the official City website, this crowdsourced version aims to be more useful at no cost to the taxpayer.
Original overspend uncovered by HelpMeInvestigate, funded by 4iP
- Against Transparency | The New Republic
These troubles with transparency point to a pattern that should be familiar to anyone watching the range of horribles--or blessings, depending upon your perspective--that the Internet is visiting upon us. So, too, does the response. The pattern is familiar. The network disables a certain kind of control. The response of those who benefitted from that control is a frantic effort to restore it. Depending upon your perspective, restoration seems justified or not. But regardless of your perspective, restoration fails. Despite the best efforts of the most powerful, the control--so long as there is "an Internet"--is lost.
- Italiaans Restaurant Palladio Amsterdam | www.diningcity.com | Restaurants website Amsterdam Palladio Jordaan Italian
Expensive but authentic Italian in Amsterdam with lovely couple running it.
- Against Transparency | The New Republic
In all these cases, the response to the problem is to attack the source of the problem: the freedom secured by the network. In all these cases, the response presumes that we can return to a world where the network did not disable control.
