secrecy and freedom of information

This page offers another perspective on censorship (and on privacy) by examining official secrets legislation, government secrecy regimes, whistleblowing and freedom of information. 

Sisela Bok's Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment & Revelation (Oxford, Oxford Uni Press 85) and John Baxter's State Security, Privacy & Information (New York, St Martins 90) are suggestive. David Brin's thoughtful The Transparent Society (Reading, Perseus Books 98) is somewhat idealistic but highlights the notion of reciprocal transparency, ie government and business sharing with citizens the information collected about them.

     legislation

In Australia there is no 'Official Secrets' Act as such at the national level. The Crimes Act 1914 covers unauthorised disclosure of Commonwealth information and there are specific provisions in other legislation. 

The states and territories have legislation dealing with disclosure of their information, whether generally or on a more restricted basis such as protection of registers under the Northern Territory Sacred Sites Act 1989.

Contract and other law provides protection in the private sector for trade secrets and information supplied on a confidential basis. Our intellectual property guide deals with copyright, patent and other IP protection of information.

At the national level the Archives Act 1983 and complementary Freedom of Information Act 1982 cover the retention of information by the national bureaucracy and long term access to that info. The Archives Act is administered by the National Archives of Australia (NAA).

The NAA site is a starting point for understanding how the legislation works and what it covers - especially important since many Commonwealth records are disappearing into the ether as agencies rely on information technology rather than dried tree-flakes embellished with ink. 

The recent Australian Law Reform Commission report on the legislation provides insights from the perspective of administrative accountability and a national information policy, one of the more unfashionable concepts in Canberra.  

The Commission also produced a report on the Freedom of Information Act, provocatively titled Open Government.

For FOI the FOI  Law Review (FLR) is published by the University of Tasmania's Law School. The Commonwealth and state/territory legislation's online:

Commonwealth  1982
ACT  1989
NSW  1989
SA  1991
Queensland  1992
Victoria  1982
WA  1992
Tasmania  1992

     bibliographies

Ralph McCoy's online Freedom of the Press: An Annotated Bibliography is an authoritative and comprehensive guide to several thousand books and articles on freedom of the press. 

Among comparative studies Kenneth Robertson's Public Secrets: A Study In The Development Of Government Secrecy (London, Macmillan 82) examines the UK, US and Sweden but should be used with caution because of the pace of change (eg does not include the Ponting and Tisdall cases in the UK or the 1989 UK Official Secrets Act).

     UK

The detailed Espionage & Secrecy: The Official Secrets Act 1911-1989 of the United Kingdom (London, Routledge 91) by Rosamund Thomas and Secrecy & Power in the British State: A History of the Official Secrets Acts (London, Pluto 97) by Ann Rogers are studies of the UK experience. 

David Vincent's The Culture of Secrecy: Britain 1832-1998 (Oxford, Oxford Uni Press 00) is a more nuanced and comprehensive study. Patrick Birkinshaw's Freedom of Information: The Law, the Practice & the Ideal (London, Butterworth 96) is a definitive study of UK law and practice.

David Hooper's Official Secrets: The Use & Abuse of the Act (London, Secker & Warburg 87) is an anecdotal - and entertaining - treatment. Hugo Young's The Crossman Affair (London, Hamilton 76) retains its status as the definitive study of changes to UK Cabinet secrecy. Judith Cook's The Price Of Freedom (London, NEL 85) considers application of  the British Official Secrets Act to non-defense data. On the Record: Computers, Surveillance & Privacy - The Inside Story (London, Michael Joseph 86) is another warning by Duncan Campbell & Steve Connor.

     US

Among the extensive literature on US secrecy legislation and policy we recommend Daniel Moynihan's Secrecy: The American Experience (New Haven, Yale Uni Press 99).

The Torment of Secrecy: The Background & Consequences Of American Security Policies (Chicago, Dee 96) by sociologist Edward Shils is a classic. The Federation of American Scientists 1998 project on Government Secrecy, covered the CIA's pre-publication review process, cold war documentation, declassification policy, freedom of information, secret government spending, and international relations. 

A Culture Of Secrecy: The Government Versus The People's Right To Know (Lawrence, Uni of Kansas Press 98) is a useful collection of essays edited by Athan Theoharis. Charles Davis & Sigman Splichal edited the broader Access Denied: Freedom of Information in the Information Age (Ames, Iowa State Uni Press 00).  

     Australia

In Australia Greg Terrill's Secrecy & Openness: The Federal Government From Menzies To Whitlam & Beyond (Melbourne, Melbourne Uni Press 00) considers official secrecy, freedom of information and archives legislation from a national information policy perspective.

In The Name of National Security (North Ryde, LBC 95) by Vincent Morabito & Hoong Lee is of interest for information law in Australia. Terrill co-edited the collection of papers in Open Government: Freedom Of Information & Privacy (Basingstoke, Macmillan 98).

     Whistle-blowing

US academic and privacy expert Alan Westin edited Whistle Blowing! Loyalty & Dissent in the Corporation (New York, McGraw-Hill 81). Whistleblowing in the Social Services: Public Accountability & Professional Practice (London, Arnold 98) edited by Geoffrey Hunt is of similar value.

For the UK there's a useful introduction in Clive Ponting's The Right to Know: The Inside Story of the Belgrano Affair (London, Sphere Books 85) and Whistleblowing - Subversion or Corporate Citizenship? (London, Chapman 94) edited by Gerald Vinten.

For a US perspective consult The Whistleblowers: Exposing Corruption in Government & Industry (New York, Basic Books 89) by Myron & Penina Glazer and Freedom Inside the Organization: Bringing Civil Liberties to the Workplace (New York, Dutton 77) by David Ewing,

Other studies include Blowing the Whistle: The Organizational & Legal Implications for Companies & Employees (New York, Lexington Books 92) by Marcia Miceli & Janet Near and Bureaucratic Opposition: Challenging Abuses at the Workplace (New York, Pergamon 79) by Deena Weinstein.