When government shares data about itself

[Commentary] A massive and disturbing US government data leak is making news. But at the same time, much progress is being made on the flip side of the issue of government-held data: releasing more, and more-easily-understood, information that citizens have a right to know about how government operates, including what decisions it’s making and how it’s spending their tax dollars.

Transparency in government operations is a key to open and clean government. While the new age of cloud storage can lead to hacks and leaks, it also offers an unprecedented opportunity for citizens to really see how their government runs. This transparency can help governments build a stronger relationship of trust with citizens, and even help the governments themselves root out corruption as they gain a clearer picture of their own operations. Government makes two data pacts with citizens: It must safeguard the personal information on citizens that it collects. But it also must make its own workings as public as possible. As American governments are struggling with the first task, they’re making encouraging progress on the second.