It’s been more than 50 years since the passage of the federal Freedom of Information Act. The United States’ government makes thousands of datasets available to the public, and facilitates access through a unified federal open data portal. Local governments don’t necessarily have the same information sharing obligations as federal agencies. They’re governed by state and local laws, and although they’re often required to share information on request, not every local government has the resources or motivation to make it easy. In the past decade, dozens of American cities have established open data portals, making it easier for the public to obtain information about government activity.

Source: Forbes April 30, 2018 00:33 UTC