Data on Data.gov Disappears

Updated at 4:44, Jan. 26, 2010

New downloadable statistics that agencies posted online on Jan. 22 disappeared on Monday, according to a government Web site tracking department participation. Agencies uploaded almost 300 new data sets on Friday, as required by the open government directive.

But researchers at transparency group Openthegovernment.org noticed on Monday that some of the listings had been taken down. For example, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported on Jan. 22 that it had posted four sets, but only two data sets were listed on Monday. Likewise, the Peace Corps last week communicated it had posted three sets, but no data sets were noted today.

The directive, which the Office of Management and Budget issued in December, instructed agencies to release at least three new data sets by Jan. 22 that hold the government accountable, elaborate on the agency's work, display financial opportunities for the public or meet some other citizen desire.

The statistics are available on Data.gov, along with a table detailing agency participation.

"The administration is transforming the way the federal government has long operated, shifting the default setting from closed, secret, and opaque to open, transparent, and participatory," federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra said in a statement on Friday.

"These data sets empower people by simplifying access to information that, for too long, has been sitting on shelves throughout Washington," federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra added. "The data can spur innovation. Entrepreneurs, corporations, and ordinary Americans can build value on top of this raw material into applications that will improve our quality of life."

The next piece of homework for agencies is to launch a departmental site that showcases all its open government activities. That's due on Feb. 6. Also, by that day, Kundra and Chopra must launch a site that provides aggregate statistics on executive branch compliance with the directive.

On Monday night, OMB spokesman Tom Gavin said that the data sets reported on Friday but unaccounted for on Monday were never posted because they raised security, privacy or other concerns.

"Out of an abundance of caution, those datasets were not published on Friday," he said. "The concerns are being examined and, if they can be addressed, the dataset will be posted."

He added that the open government directive explicitly states its guidelines do not preempt existing privacy and security restrictions.

"This review is right in line with what was established in the December directive," Gavin said and then referred to this directive language: "With respect to information, the presumption shall be in favor of openness (to the extent permitted by law and subject to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, or other restrictions)."

But a Peace Corps spokesman said its data sets were initially posted on Data.gov.

"It is our understanding that OMB decided to take the data down," agency spokesman Joshua Field said on Tuesday. OMB maintains the site, not the individual agencies. "We are working with OMB and expect the data to be live again on Data.gov within days," Field added.

Neither OMB nor any of the agencies informed the public that the data sets were removed.

The NRC is looking into who took down the data, for what reason, and what notifications should have been made, agency spokesman Scott Burnell said.

He added that the information in question already is available on the NRC's Web site.

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