Federal agencies involved in intelligence have taken many steps to improve their transparency to the public but much remains to be done, according to a status report from the Director of National Intelligence.
The initiative dates to the start of the administration but was enhanced by an early 2014 speech by President Obama stressing that greater transparency is needed to have the trust of the public. Following that, the DNI launched a program to increase transparency as part of the national intelligence strategy.
Steps taken since then, the report said, include establishing a repository for declassified documents, official statements, speeches and testimony; disclosing policies on protection of personal information collected via signals intelligence activities; conducting declassification reviews; and appearances by IC officials in a range of public settings including meetings with advocacy groups.
“Although these efforts represent an unprecedented increase in intelligence transparency, the IC recognizes that more work remains to be done,” it said. Challenges include responding to a sharp increase in external requests for information and documents that is stressing resources to process those requests; “new and persistent public narratives about intelligence activities based on unauthorized disclosures that often lack context and reflect an incomplete or erroneous understanding of the IC and its governance framework;” and providing context for many of the documents the IC releases.
“Thus, while large volumes of information have been officially released, the public’s understanding of the IC remains incomplete in many ways,” it said.
