The Invention Secrecy Act of 1951 has been used for more than half a century to restrict disclosure of patent applications that could be “detrimental to national security.” At the end of the last fiscal year, no fewer than 5,321 secrecy orders were in effect.
These secrecy orders have been difficult to penetrate and the stories behind them have usually been left untold. But several inventors whose work prompted imposition of a secrecy order were interviewed by G.W. Schulz of the Center for Investigative Reporting. See his new account in
Every new institution inherits something – existing incentives, existing staff, decades of prior investment that shaped what’s possible. This is not the first time Google has agreed to censor imagery at the behest of governments, but be warned: obfuscation at this broad level poses a direct threat to the public’s ability to monitor and scrutinize government operations. America’s affordability problem is bigger than home prices and rents. The best housing policies make it easier to build homes, and recognize how housing connects to other domains. America’s affordability problem, for instance, is bigger than home prices and rents. How we build affects household costs like insurance and utilities.