Open Government Information Awareness

The Open Government Information Awareness was a project at MIT to provide US citizens with software tools to construct a database on the US government. As of November 2004 the project is no longer being developed.

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.

Technology

The Open Government Information Awareness suite of software tools acts as a framework for US citizens to construct and analyze a comprehensive database on our government. Modeled on recent government programs designed to consolidate information on individuals into massive databases, our system does the opposite, allowing you to scrutinize those in government. Citizens are able to explore data, track events, find patterns, and build risk profiles, all in an effort to encourage and motivate action. We like to think of it as a Citizen’s Intelligence Agency, giving people similar tools and technologies to those held by their government.

Central to GIA is its extensible model of data: Everything in its system is either an entity or a link -- a thing or a relationship. This allows the system to grow in any direction, and accommodate as-yet unimagined institutions, organizations, or threats.

It is inspired by the Total or Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) system.

GIA is an example of inverse surveillance

Open GIA is an example of inverse surveillance (political sousveillance), in the situationist tradition of reflectionism and reversal.

External links

* [http://opengov.media.mit.edu/ opengov.media.mit.edu] , no longer maintained
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20031229082928/http%3a//opengov.media.mit.edu/ web.archive.org copy of the old site]
* [http://www.reason.com/hod/nh123002.shtml Pointing Back At Poindexter]
* [http://wearcam.org/sousveillance_privacy_hero_of_the_month030101hero.htm Privacy Hero of the Month (sousveillance and "Total Poindexter Awareness")]