{{short description|Critic of US government secrecy policy}} '''Steven Aftergood''' is a critic of U.S. [[Secrecy#Government|government secrecy]] policy. He directs the [[Federation of American Scientists]] project on Government Secrecy and is the author of the Federation publication ''[[Secrecy News]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://sgp.fas.org/news/2003/11/wp112603.pdf|newspaper=Washington Post|title=One Man Against Secrecy; Newsletter Editor Works to Limit Classified Information|author=Dana Priest|date=November 26, 2003}}</ref>
==Life and career== Aftergood has a [[Bachelor of Science|BS]] in [[Electrical Engineering]] from the [[UCLA|University of California, Los Angeles]] and has published research in [[solid-state physics]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sgp.fas.org/aftergood.html |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |title=Steven Aftergood}}</ref>
In 1991, Aftergood exposed the classified [[Project Timberwind]], an unacknowledged [[U.S. Department of Defense]] [[special access program]] to develop a [[nuclear thermal rocket]]. That episode led the [[Federation of American Scientists]] to initiate an ongoing research project on government secrecy, led by Aftergood.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/03/us/secret-nuclear-powered-rocket-being-developed-for-star-wars.html|work=New York Times|title=Secret Nuclear-Powered Rocket Being Developed for 'Star Wars'|author=William J. Broad|date=April 3, 1991}}</ref>
==Controversies==
===Intelligence budget disclosure===
Aftergood was the plaintiff in a 1997 [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] lawsuit against the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] which led to the [[declassification]] and publication of the [[United States intelligence budget|U.S. government's total intelligence budget]] ($26.6 billion in 1997) for the first time in fifty years.<ref>[https://sgp.fas.org/foia/victory.html FAS Wins Lawsuit Against CIA on Intelligence Budget Disclosure], CIA Statement, 15 Oct. 1997.</ref>
In 2006, Aftergood won a FOIA lawsuit against the [[National Reconnaissance Office]] to release [[unclassified]] budget records.<ref>[https://sgp.fas.org/news/secrecy/2006/12/122106.html National Reconnaissance Office Yields to FAS Lawsuit], by Steven Aftergood, 21 Dec. 2006.</ref>
===Preserving CIA email===
A [[Central Intelligence Agency]] proposal in 2014 to eliminate the email records of all but 22 senior agency officials was derailed after a reference to the move was spotted by Aftergood, triggering a critical reaction in congress and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/11/20/365474273/the-cia-wants-to-delete-old-email-critics-say-not-so-fast|work=National Public Radio|title=The CIA Wants To Delete Old Email; Critics Say 'Not So Fast'|author=David Welna|date=November 20, 2014}}</ref> The proposal was formally withdrawn by the agency in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sgp.fas.org/news/secrecy/2016/04/040416.html#3|work=Secrecy News|title=CIA Withdraws Email Destruction Proposal|date=April 4, 2016}}</ref>
===Reducing nuclear weapons secrecy===
As part of an effort by the [[Federation of American Scientists]] to reduce secrecy surrounding [[nuclear weapons]], Aftergood acquired and posted a 2019 Joint Chiefs of Staff publication on Nuclear Operations. The document describes a potential role for such weapons in U.S. warfighting plans.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/oops-pentagon-just-revealed-its-nuclear-doctrine-63402|work=The National Interest|title=Oops: The Pentagon Just Revealed Its Nuclear Doctrine|author=David Axe|date=June 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/19/nuclear-weapons-pentagon-us-military-doctrine|work=The Guardian|title=Nuclear weapons: experts alarmed by new Pentagon 'war-fighting' doctrine|author=Julian Borger|date=June 19, 2019}}</ref>
===Promoting access to government information===
Aftergood maintained several widely-used collections of government documents. These include Presidential national security directives,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/direct.htm|title=Presidential directives and executive orders| work=via Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> US military doctrinal publications,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://irp.fas.org/doddir/dod/index.html|title=Defense Department Intelligence and Security Doctrine, Directives and Instructions| work=via Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> applications of the state secrets privilege,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sgp.fas.org/jud/statesec/index.html|title=The State Secrets Privilege: Selected Case Files| work=via Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> uses of the Invention Secrecy Act,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/invention/index.html|title=Invention Secrecy| work=via Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> [[Congressional Research Service]] reports,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/index.html|title=Congressional Research Service reports| work=via Federation of American Scientists}}</ref> and studies performed by the JASON science advisory panel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://irp.fas.org/agency/dod/jason/index.html|title=JASON Defense Advisory Panel Reports| work=via Federation of American Scientists}}</ref>
==Awards== Aftergood’s work on government secrecy policy has been recognized with the Pioneer Award from the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/10/19|title=Transparency Activist, Public Domain Scholar, Legal Blogger, and Imprisoned E-Voting Researcher Win Pioneer Awards|date=October 19, 2010}}</ref> the James Madison Award from the American Library Association,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ala.org/advocacy/james-madison-past-awardees|title=Past Recipients of the James Madison Award}}</ref> the Public Access to Government Information Award from the American Association of Law Libraries,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aallnet.org/community/recognition/awards-program/public-access-to-government-information-award/|title=Public Access to Government Information Award}}</ref> and the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award from the [[Playboy Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hmhfoundation.org/winners-judges|title=Past Winners and Judges of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards}}</ref>
==Selected publications== * {{Citation|url=https://issforum.org/essays/359-aftergood| title="Making Up My Mind, and Then Changing It", H-DIPLO series on Learning the Scholar's Craft, (2021)| date=13 July 2021}}
* {{Citation|url=https://sgp.fas.org/eprint/dynamics.pdf| title="An Inquiry Into The Dynamics Of Government Secrecy", Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 48:2 (2013)}} * {{Citation|url=https://sgp.fas.org/eprint/aftergood.pdf| title="Reducing Government Secrecy: Finding What Works", Yale Law and Policy Review, 27: 399-416 (2009)}} * {{Citation|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7616/full/536271a.html| title='Ethics: Taming our technologies' (review), ''Nature'', 536: 271-272 (2016)| journal=Nature| volume=536| issue=7616| pages=271–272| doi=10.1038/536271a| url-access=subscription}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://fas.org/expert/steven-aftergood/ Biography] of Steven Aftergood * [https://sgp.fas.org/news/secrecy/index.html Secrecy News] * {{C-SPAN|34149}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aftergood, Steven}} [[Category:American freedom of information activists]] [[Category:Open government activists]] [[Category:Activists from Los Angeles]] [[Category:Activists from Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]