Government Policy Needs in a Web 2.0 World

Government Policy Needs in a Web 2.0 World Alexander Koudry Office of Governmentwide Policy Office of Technology Strategy Presented on April 14, 2009

GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy

Facilitates government wide information technology policy activities including creation, facilitation, education, and outreach

Policy - A deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s).

Often implemented to avoid a negative effect or seek a positive outcome

Policy Life Cycle

Identification of issue or agenda setting

Decision making

Policy analysis and evaluation

Policy development or formation

Policy implementation

Web 2.0 Policy Needs

Existing Policy Analysis

Policy Analysis requires Policy Analysts, or at least resources with those skill sets

Steps involved include:

Identifying existing policies relevant to the new technology

Determining which policies apply

Deciding if any gaps are present and how to address them

Identifying any conflicts and how to resolve them

Complicated considerably when technologies converge

Key Points

The internet-enabled collaborative technologies referred to here as Web 2.0 are evolving at a very rapid rate

Key Points

Most information technology policies that apply to Web 2.0 are not technology specific

Key Points

Understanding existing laws, regulations, directives and guidance is critical when planning Web 2.0 technology projects

Why Have Policy

Safety

Trust

Security

Rights of Ownership

Equal Access

Record Keeping

Policy Areas Other Information Management Equal Access Information Assurance Technology Overlap

Policy Evolution

As technologies evolve polices need to be changed to meet the new environment.

The new Administration may decide to modify the policies as they have the opportunity to review them.

Types of Policy

Information Exchange

Dissemination Products

Quality

Intellectual Property

Public Data

Usability of Data

Records Management

Information Management

Types of Policy

Security

Identity Authentication

Privacy

Protection of Children

Information Assurance

Types of Policy

Linking to external servers

Persistent cookies

Equal Access to Citizens

Who have disabilities

Who have limited English proficiency

Who do not have high speed Internet

Technology Equal Access

Types of Policy

Rulemaking

Advisory Groups

Procurement

“ Dot Gov” Domain

Other

Information Management

Management of Information Exchange

OMB Circular A-130 and the Paperwork Reduction Act

Agencies are required to disseminate information to the public in a timely, equitable, efficient, and appropriate manner

Required to establish and maintain Information Dissemination Product Inventories.

Must consider disparities of access and how those without internet access will have access to important disseminations.

Alternative strategies to distribute information to meet needs above should be developed alongside any utilization of Web 2.0 tools.

Agencies should clearly state when and how their tools are moderated and what users are allowed, and not allowed, to contribute.

Accountability for Information Dissemination Products

E-Government Act, Section 207

Agencies are required to develop priorities and schedules for making government information available and accessible to the public

Inventories must be posted on Agency websites.

The annual E-Government Act report to OMB must contain information on the final inventories, priorities and schedules.

Agencies required to implement and maintain an Information Dissemination Management System.

Information Quality

Information Quality Act, Pub. L. No. 106-554

Agencies are required to maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information and services provided to the public.

With regard to Web 2.0 information dissemination products, Agencies must reasonably ensure suitable information and service quality consistent with the level of importance of the information.

Reasonable steps include:

1) clearly identifying the limitations inherent in the information dissemination product (e.g., possibility of errors, degree of reliability, and validity)

2) taking reasonable steps to remove the limitations inherent in the information, and

3) reconsidering delivery of the information or services.

Intellectual Property

Copyright.gov , U.S. Trademark Law

Web 2.0 technologies that allow public contribution of content can create challenges regarding the protection of Intellectual Property contributed by visitors.

The ease of copying and propagating data from many sources on the internet makes it very easy to unintentionally breach copyright laws.

Agencies must establish policies and post clear disclaimers detailing the copyrights that non-government contributors to their sites may retain.

Agencies must be diligent to ensure that they consider existing intellectual property and copyright laws when implementing Web 2.0 technologies.

Public Data

Copyright.gov , U.S. Trademark Law

The Federal government typically provides public data which is not considered copyrightable intellectual property

Government content on any site is generally public domain and therefore can not become the intellectual property of an individual or be protected by a site provider.

Care must be taken to not create the appearance of a copyright on a government created work, unless specifically permitted by statute.

Usability of Data

OMB Memo M-05-04

Many Web 2.0 technologies allow users to take data from one website and combine it with data from another, commonly referred to as “Mashups.”

Agency public websites are required, to the extent practicable and necessary to achieve intended purposes, to provide all data in an open, industry standard format that permits users to aggregate, disaggregate, or otherwise manipulate and analyze the data to meet their needs.

Agencies need to ensure that these open industry standard formats are followed to maximize the utility of their data.

Records Management and Archiving

OMB Circular A-130, “Management of Federal Information Resources,” section 8a4 and Implications of Recent Web Technologies for NARA Web Guidance

When using electronic media the regulations that govern proper management and archival of records still apply.

Agencies need to evaluate their use of Web 2.0 technologies and determine the most appropriate methods to capture and retain records on both government servers and technologies hosted on non-Federal hosts.

Information Assurance

Security

OMB Memo M-05-04 , NIST Special Publications 800-39 and 800-53 .

When government websites become two-way communities, it opens the possibility of virus and other attack agents being inserted into the government environment. Many of the security policies in OMB Memo M-05-04 have implications for Web 2.0 technologies.

Agencies are required to provide adequate security controls to ensure information is resistant to tampering, to preserve accuracy, to maintain confidentiality as necessary, and to ensure that the information or service is available as intended by the Agency and as expected by users.

FISMA

Under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), and OMB guidance, a Certification and Accreditation (C&A) process is required on all Federal IT systems

This C&A activity must be performed by an independent third party auditing team and must conform to the Risk Management Framework of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Identity Authentication of Users

OMB Memo M-04-04 , NIST Special Publication 800-63 .

Agencies must decide the appropriate levels of openness, moderation, authentication and attribution for use on Web2.0 interfaces. There is a balance between access, identity authentication, attribution, and concern for authoritative sourcing in the level of moderation that is needed on a site.

OMB Memo M-04-04 requires Agencies to perform a standardized risk assessment on all applications they put online. The risk assessment also identifies the Level of Assurance (LOA) of identity the application should require from an end user’s identity credential (userID/password pair, digital certificate or other identity management technology)

Protection of Children

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)

Prohibits collection of individually identifiable information from children

Defines child as under the age of 13

In effect since April 21, 2000

FTC determines if a web site is directed to children

Privacy

OMB Memo M-03-22

Federal public websites, including those using Web 2.0 technologies, are required to conduct privacy impact assessments, post privacy policies on each website, post a “Privacy Act Statement” that describes the Agency’s legal authority for collecting personal data and how the data will be used

Agencies must post privacy policies in a standardized machine readable format such as the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project

Technology

Linking to External Servers

OMB Memo M-05-04

Many Web 2.0 services are hosted outside government websites. Example:Media sharing services like YouTube.

Agencies are required to establish and enforce explicit Agency-wide linking policies that set out management controls for linking beyond the Agency to outside services and websites.

Pop-up or intermediary screens should be used to notify users that they are exiting a government website.

Disclaimers detailing the level of moderation found on third party sites are often appropriate on these notification screens.

Persistent Cookies (Privacy)

OMB Memo M-03-22

Federal websites are prohibited from using persistent cookies and other web tracking methods unless their use has been approved by an Agency head or designated Agency sub-head, for a compelling need.

When approved in this fashion, Agencies must post clear notice of the nature of the information collected in the cookies, the purpose and use of the information, whether or not and to whom the information will be disclosed, and the privacy safeguards applied to the information collected.

Equal Access

Equal Access to Citizens Who Have Disabilities

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Requires that electronic and information technologies purchased, maintained, or used by the Federal Government meet certain accessibility standards.

These standards are designed to make online information and services fully available to the 54 million Americans who have disabilities

Agencies implementing Web 2.0 services must pay particular attention to complying with the requirements of Section 508.

Agencies employing non-Federal services to provide Web 2.0 capabilities are also required to ensure that persons with disabilities have equivalent access to the information on these third party sites as required in Section 508.

Equal Access to Citizens Who Have Limited English Proficiency

Commonly Asked Questions and Answers Regarding Executive Order 13166 and Executive Order 13166

Executive Order 13166 requires that Agencies provide appropriate access to persons with limited English proficiency.

The scope of this requirement encompasses all “federally conducted programs and activities,” Anything an Agency does, including using Web 2.0 technologies to communicate and collaborate with citizens, falls under the reach of the mandate.

Under this Executive Order, Agencies must determine how much information they need to provide in other languages based on an assessment of customer needs.

Equal Access to Citizens Who Do Not Have High Speed Internet

OMB Circular A-130 section 8 (See a5(d)) and Appendix IV

Agencies are required to provide members of the public who do not have internet connectivity with timely and equitable access to information, for example, by providing hard copies of reports and forms.

Using Web 2.0 technologies as an exclusive channel for information distribution would prevent users without internet access, including economically disadvantaged persons, from receiving such information.

In addition, some Web 2.0 services require high speed internet access and high bandwidth, which may not be available in rural areas or may be unaffordable.

In general, this requirement is no different for Web 2.0 implementations than it is for other electronic service offerings. Programs must simply make alternative, non-electronic, forms of information dissemination available upon request.

Other

Rulemaking

Web 2.0 technologies may provide a medium to allow many ideas to be surfaced and easily discussed.

Using new media does not relieve the agency from the established process of public rulemaking which includes publication in the Federal Register (electronically and on paper for those without computer access) and a public comment period.

The consolidated web presence for rulemaking is Regulations.Gov, which allows views of all pending regulations, RSS feeds of new postings and permits submission of comments. The site also permits the online reconciliation of all comments

Advisory Groups

FACA

Some uses of Web 2.0 technologies may meet the functional definition of a virtual or electronic advisory group and therefore fall under the purview of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA).

Any advisory group, with limited exceptions, that is established or utilized by a federal Agency and that has at least one member who is not a federal employee, must comply with the FACA.

To find out if a group comes under the FACA, any individual may contact the sponsoring Agency's Committee Management Officer, or the GSA Committee Management Secretariat.

Procurement