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Concerns about status of online government information

ASNE joined 68 organizations in a letter to the director of the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs that highlights concerns about the status of publicly available information on federal government websites. 
The letter notes that information has been removed from various agency websites without prior notice of changes that is required by the Paperwork Reduction Act or any clear indication that information being taken off these sites is being properly sent to the National Archives and Records Administration for preservation. Examples include information relating to animal welfare (previously found on the Department of Agriculture website), individuals with disabilities (previously found on the Department of Education website) and climate change (previously found on the Environmental Protection Agency website).
 
As the letter notes, the public "has no way of knowing which government information is no longer accessible online" and faces the "risk of losing access to valuable government information," including key federal datasets, which could result in the loss of years of taxpayer-funded government work on important issues of public concern. 

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