Yet another big data breach
Our opinion: Hackers breach security at a health insurance giant, netting 80 million records. Will state and federal lawmakers see that lax corporate data security hurts everyone? In some drug stores,...
View ArticleWait on data sharing plan
Buried deep in Gov. Cuomo’s “opportunity agenda” is a plan that, on the surface, sounds like it makes a lot of sense: “Authorize Multi-Agency Data Sharing to Enhance Enforcement Initiatives.” The...
View ArticleSecrecy is now state policy
Our opinion: A new state government protocol for emails requires their destruction after 90 days. How many public records, how much history, how much evidence will be lost to this policy? “Sunlight is...
View ArticleWell, it’s partial sunshine
Our opinion: The Assembly plans to pass a package of bills to increase transparency in government. Why is the Legislature exempt from such openness? The state Assembly plans to mark Sunshine Week with...
View ArticleLong story short
Our opinons: We weigh in briefly on the governor’s emails, corporate data security, and unnecessary obstacles police face in obtaining child abuse records. On state’s email policy: Just do it, Mr....
View ArticleEase access to adoption records
It is still a fact of life that neither the adoptee nor the birth parent routinely know about the New York State Health Department’s Adoption Registry. Advertising the registry is long overdue, but...
View ArticleDon’t shield police video
In an era when we’re surrounded by surveillance cameras, and anyone with a smartphone can capture video anywhere, we’ve seen that most people behave much differently when they know their actions are...
View ArticleFree the people’s records
In New York, local county clerks are entrusted with a vital responsibility in our free and open society – maintaining important records that belong to the public. These range from real estate deeds and...
View ArticlePersonnel records must be available
Regarding your editorial, “End this prison secrecy” (April 24), to resolve inequities that plague our policing system, we need to re-evaluate practices that tilt accountability away from officers. The...
View ArticleNew concerns at JCOPE
One moment someone is working for a state agency, the next he’s lobbying that agency on behalf of a client. One day his name is on public records as a lobbyist, the next it’s gone. One day another...
View ArticleLong story short
Lawmaker loopholes erode public trust The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is providing too many ways for lawmakers to dodge compliance with a 2015 law requiring lawyers who are members of the...
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