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Category Archives: E-Government

FBI Crime Data Explorer

“The Crime Data Explorer (CDE) is the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s dynamic solution to presenting crime data in a more immediate venue that reflects the constant change in the nation’s crime circumstance. The CDE pages provide a view of estimated national and state data, reported agency-level crime statistics, and graphs of specific variables from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). You can also download bulk datasets from a variety of UCR topics. In addition, the Crime Data API (application programming interface) provides a way for developers to access and share large amounts of data in significant ways. The Crime Data Explorer is part of the FBI’s broader effort to modernize the reporting of national crime data. It allows you to view trends, download bulk data, and access the Crime Data API for reported crime at the national, state, and agency levels…The Crime Data Explorer (CDE) is the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’sexternal link icon dynamic solution to presenting crime data in a more immediate venue that reflects the constant change in the nation’s crime circumstance.

  • Violent crime is composed of four offenses. homicide (murder and non negligent manslaughter), rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Violent crimes involve force or threat of force…”

Free COVID-19 test program to be suspended for now

The Hill: “The federal government’s free at-home COVID-19 test program will be suspended beginning Friday in response to a drop in respiratory diseases. The Biden administration brought back the free test program last year ahead of the respiratory viral season. By going to COVIDtests.gov, households could order a free pack of four at-home COVID-19 tests.… Continue Reading

Seeking Reliable Election Information? Don’t Trust AI

Proof – Experts testing five leading AI models found the answers were often inaccurate, misleading, and even downright harmful. Twenty-one states, including Texas, prohibit voters from wearing campaign-related apparel at election polling places. But when asked about the rules for wearing a MAGA hat to vote in Texas — the answer to which is easily… Continue Reading

US Census Bureau purposely fudges location data in census to protect people’s privacy

Via Kottke – The U.S. Census Is Wrong on Purpose: “…Full census data is only made available 72 years after the census takes place, in accordance with the creatively-named “72 year rule.” Until then, it is only available as aggregated data with individual identifiers removed. Still, if the population of a town is small enough,… Continue Reading

OMB stands up first online database of all federal programs

Federal News Network: “It took 13 years — with some stops, starts and stumbles in between — but as of today, the federal government now has a single website designed to deliver detailed, searchable information about all federal programs. The Office of Management and Budget flipped the switch Thursday on the new Federal Program Inventory,… Continue Reading

Directory of Police Department Social Media Policies

Brennan Center for Justice – “While many departments have policies addressing the use of social media data, most are too permissive or provide little transparency about actual practices. Surveys and anecdotal reports suggest that the use of social media by state and local law enforcement is widespread, with a number of police departments reporting that they… Continue Reading

American Local Government Elections Database

“The study of urban and local politics in the United States has long been hindered by a lack of centralized sources of election data. We introduce a new dataset of about 78,000 candidates in 57,000 electoral contests that encompasses races for seven distinct local political offices in most medium and large cities and counties in… Continue Reading

CISA Launches #Protect2024 Resources Webpage for State and Local Election Officials

“As part of its unwavering commitment to safeguarding the security and integrity of the nation’s elections infrastructure, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) launched its new #Protect2024 webpage today. Election security remains a paramount concern for CISA, the lead federal agency entrusted with securing the nation’s elections infrastructure. The agency continues to proudly stand… Continue Reading

Understanding the Privacy Practices of Political Campaigns: A Perspective from the 2020 US Election Websites

024 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP) Understanding the Privacy Practices of Political Campaigns: A Perspective from the 2020 US Election Websites Year: 2024, Pages: 91-91, DOI Bookmark: 10.1109/SP54263.2024.00091. Kaushal Kafle, William & Mary, USA ;  Prianka Mandal, William & Mary, USA  ; Kapil Singh, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, USA ; Benjamin Andow,… Continue Reading

FAA Aviation Maps

Kottke: “On Beautiful Public Data, Jon Keegan highlights the extremely information-rich flight maps produced by the Federal Aviation Administration that pilots use to find their way around the skies. Among all of the visual information published by the U.S. government, there may be no product with a higher information density than the Federal Aviation Administration’s… Continue Reading