House, Senate Vote To Curb Online Financial Disclosure Requirements For Federal Workers

[Purveyor]

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, April 12, 7:39 PM

WASHINGTON — Congress is repealing some financial disclosure requirements for highly paid federal officials after an expert panel concluded that publishing details about their personal holdings and transactions online exposes them to identity theft and creates a national security risk.

The House passed a bill Friday doing away with the online filing requirements except for the president, vice president, members of Congress, Cabinet officers, other officials appointed by the president, and candidates for president or Congress. The Senate approved it Thursday evening. Both chambers approved the measure by voice vote.

--CLIP
As part of a law aimed at curbing the perception that lawmakers or members of their families were trading illegally on insider information, Congress voted last year to require themselves, their aides and other federal employees making more than $119,554 a year to disclose their financial dealings more regularly in an online, searchable database.

But Congress has delayed implementing the requirement under the so-called STOCK, or Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge, Act. Last month the National Academy of Public Administration recommended Congress “indefinitely suspend the online posting requirements and the unrestricted access to searchable, sortable, downloadable databases.”

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/house-and-senate-vote-to-curb-online-financial-disclosure-requirements-for-federal-workers/2013/04/12/6fb3650c-a3c5-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. another layer of guaze over the transparency

Any competent hacker can find all the information they want about the employees.
This just keeps the workers another step removed from public scrutiny.