Aftergood, Steven
Biography
Steven Aftergood directs the Project on Government Secrecy, which works to reduce the scope of official secrecy and to promote public access to government information.
He writes Secrecy News, an email newsletter (and blog) which reports on new developments in secrecy policy for more than 10,000 subscribers in media, government and among the general public.
In 1997, Mr. Aftergood was the plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency which led to the declassification and publication of the total intelligence budget ($26.6 billion in 1997) for the first time in fifty years. In 2006, he won a FOIA lawsuit against the National Reconnaissance Office for release of unclassified budget records.
Mr. Aftergood is an electrical engineer by training (B.Sc., UCLA, 1977) and has published research in solid state physics. He joined the FAS staff in 1989.
He has authored or co-authored papers and essays in Scientific American, Science, New Scientist, Journal of Geophysical Research, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, and Issues in Science and Technology, on topics including space nuclear power, atmospheric effects of launch vehicles, and government information policy. For his work on confronting government secrecy, Mr. Aftergood has received the James Madison Award from the American Library Association (2006), the Public Access to Government Information Award from the American Association of Law Libraries (2006), and the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award from the Playboy Foundation (2004).
Publications:
Blog: Secrecy News
In the News:
2010 April 16: The Washington Times - Ex-NSA Official Indicted in Probe of Leaked Secrets
2010 April 15: The Politico - Ex-NSA Official Charged for Leaks
2010 April 14: The Huffington Post - Was Lack of Government Transparency a Factor in Mine Deaths?
2010 April 9: The Guardian - Who Watches Wikileaks?
2010 April 7: Associated Press - Military Can't Find Its Copy of Iraq Killing Video
2010 March 23: The New Scientist - UK Keeps Three Times as Many Patents Secret as the U.S.
2010 February 12: USA Today - 10,000 TSA Staff to Get Secret Intel
2010 January 13: McClatchy - National Archives' New Director is a Kid in a Candy Store
