NY Bill Would Require Online State Records 76
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Micah Kellner, the New York State assemblyman who last year submitted a bill to provide a tax credit to open source developers, has now proposed the 'Open New York Act,' a law that would make it mandatory for state agencies to put almost all of their public records on the Internet. According to Kellner's office, the law would 'revolutionize the relationship between New Yorkers and their state government, requiring all state agencies to make their records available through a central website — where the data can be used by activists, entrepreneurs, and others to create a host of applications useful in everyday life.' The Open Government Foundation, Citizens Union, and New York Public Interest Research Group all support the bill."
Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:2, Insightful)
Boggle the mind. I guess it didn't occur to the people involved that just as many bad things can be done with this data as good things? I can see the headlines now. Don't like African Americans? I'll load up the "Negro avoider" app on my computer. And never have my commute disrupted again by the sight of people I don't like. Or what about the "victim finder" app for child molesters? Just take the data on family occupancies and compare to local crime statistics and police coverage and voila! Thanks Victim Finder! I hope I'm just crazy but this seems like a triumph of enthusiasm over common sense at first glance.
Re:Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:3, Insightful)
I think that falls into "stupidity is its own reward" category.
Brett
Re:Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:4, Insightful)
Which is a fine situation to be in. The vast majority of people won't have any use for this data being online. So why spend millions of dollars to benefit a very small percentage of the population. I would hope that they could find something better to do with the tax dollars they collect. Hell, if they've got extra cash burning a hole in their pocket, perhaps they could just take less from us next year?
Re:Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:5, Insightful)
All of that data had been available to large corporations who track that sort of thing.
All of that data is already publicly available - you just have to drive down to the individual offices.
Will it cause problems? I don't know.
Will it make government more transparent? I think so.
Well said. This is all publicly available stuff that would be available under the Freedom of Information Law. It just means that getting the stuff will be less dependent on (a) having money to spend and (b) having money for lawyers. I.e., it makes the process more democratic.
Re:Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:5, Insightful)
The vast majority of people won't have any use for this data being online.
Not so. Just because most people don't have a direct need for the material, and wouldn't know what to do with it if they had it, doesn't mean that society doesn't need it. Society does need it. It's just like securities prospectuses; most small investors don't read them, but the fact that the prospectuses are out there and publicly accessible is extremely important to every investor: (1) it helps to keep people honest, and (2) the pros who can read and understand them spread the information to the rest of us.
Re:Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:5, Insightful)
Or what about the "victim finder" app for child molesters? Just take the data on family occupancies and compare to local crime statistics and police coverage and voila! Thanks Victim Finder!
This may be the most absurd "think of the chiiildren" argument I've ever heard ... and that's saying something.
First of all, the vast majority of molestation victims are attacked by family members, who don't exactly need demographic information to find their targets. Second, even in the very rare case of stranger-abduction attacks, do you really think they're going after children at home? Take a walk outside -- there's a good chance there's an elementary school within a few blocks of where you live.
As for your hypothetical "Negro avoider" bigot ... well, let him do what he wants. There are already lots of people who won't drive through "that part of town" where "those people live." As long as they're not burning crosses on people's lawns, who gives a damn?
Re:Oh my, the possibilities for disaster (Score:3, Insightful)
So why spend millions of dollars to benefit a very small percentage of the population.
Almost everything the government does benefits a very small percentage of the population, at any one time. But you add all those small percentages up, and you get nearly everybody.