The latest news on this front comes from a really interesting article at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press written by Technology and Press Freedom Project Legal Fellow for the Reporters Committee Mailyn Fidler. Take a look at this excerpt:
The SolarWinds hack, which affected software used by federal, state and local governments, may set back efforts for public access to federal court records.
The vulnerability in SolarWinds products resulted in an “apparent compromise” of “highly sensitive non-public documents,” such as sealed filings, submitted through the federal court’s electronic filing system. In response, federal courts have announced that they will only accept highly sensitive documents (HSDs) in paper form or via a “secure electronic device” that can be added to a “secure stand-alone computer system.”
The courts do not have a standing definition of what constitutes a highly sensitive document. In fact, the administrative body for the federal judiciary has directed each federal court to “address the types of filings it does and does not consider to be HSDs.” This patchwork approach could lead to inconsistencies from court to court.
Also, visit the main Democracy Chronicles section on American Democracy or our articles on Money Politics and Worldwide Corruption.
Leave a Reply