Information Management:
Technical Review of the White House Data Base
T-AIMD-96-168: Published: Sep 10, 1996. Publicly Released: Sep 10, 1996.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
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Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the White House database, focusing on its users and operational components. GAO noted that: (1) users are generally satisfied with the database as a tool for maintaining information important to the Presidency; (2) fewer than 100 White House staff use the database, and the 25 heaviest users represent three White House offices and systems administrators; (3) the Social Office uses the database to develop invitation lists and plan state dinners and other events, the Personal Correspondence Office uses the database to help compose Presidential letters, and the Outreach Office uses the database for generating lists of holiday card recipients; (4) these users believe that the database is critical in performing their tasks, but the database's design is limited because it does not employ certain relational database capabilities; (5) because of additional processing steps, system performance will degrade if demand increases; (6) systems administrators have made compromises to minimize performance impacts that affect data integrity and audit trails; (7) the White House has taken actions to ensure a controlled environment by providing personalized user training, requiring signed ethics documents and passwords, providing anti-hacker defense systems, and limiting user access; and (8) to ensure data integrity and operational effectiveness, the White House needs to document systems security policies and procedures, limit report printing, and establish an audit trail for systems administrators to monitor database operations.
Oct 8, 2020
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Open Data:
Agencies Need Guidance to Establish Comprehensive Data Inventories; Information on Their Progress is LimitedGAO-21-29: Published: Oct 8, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 8, 2020.
Jul 16, 2020
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Coast Guard:
Actions Needed to Ensure Investments in Key Data System Meet Mission and User NeedsGAO-20-562: Published: Jul 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Jul 16, 2020.
Mar 30, 2020
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Information Management:
Selected Agencies Need to Fully Address Federal Electronic Recordkeeping RequirementsGAO-20-59: Published: Feb 27, 2020. Publicly Released: Mar 30, 2020.
Mar 16, 2020
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Freedom of Information Act:
Federal Agencies' Recent Implementation EffortsGAO-20-406R: Published: Mar 11, 2020. Publicly Released: Mar 16, 2020.
Dec 16, 2019
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Assessing Data Reliability (Supersedes GAO-09-680G)GAO-20-283G: Published: Dec 16, 2019. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2019.
Oct 17, 2019
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Freedom of Information Act:
DHS Needs to Reduce Backlogged Requests and Eliminate Duplicate ProcessingGAO-20-209T: Published: Oct 17, 2019. Publicly Released: Oct 17, 2019.
Aug 10, 2018
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Paperwork Reduction Act:
Agencies Could Better Leverage Review Processes and Public Outreach to Improve Burden EstimatesGAO-18-381: Published: Jul 11, 2018. Publicly Released: Aug 10, 2018.
Jun 25, 2018
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Freedom of Information Act:
Agencies Are Implementing Requirements but Additional Actions Are NeededGAO-18-365: Published: Jun 25, 2018. Publicly Released: Jun 25, 2018.
Mar 13, 2018
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Freedom of Information Act:
Agencies Are Implementing Requirements but Need to Take Additional ActionsGAO-18-452T: Published: Mar 13, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 13, 2018. -
Freedom of Information Act:
Federal Court Decisions Have Not Required the Office of Special Counsel to Initiate Disciplinary Actions for the Improper Withholding of RecordsGAO-18-235R: Published: Mar 13, 2018. Publicly Released: Mar 13, 2018.
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