New Dashboard Tracks Which Federal Sites You Visit, and How You Got There

By Nextgov. At 11:23 a.m. on Thursday, 150,980 people — more than the population of Alexandria, Virginia — were browsing U.S. federal websites. Five thousand of them visited an IRS.gov page called “Where’s my Refund?” Another 2,091 were checking forecasts on Weather.gov.

These stats come from a new dashboard tracking user behavior on federal websites — what they’re looking at, what device they use, as well as their browser and operating system. The White House’s U.S. Digital Service, along with two General Services Administration’s tech teams, 18F and the Digital Analytics Program, launched the site Thursday.

Created over the course of two to three weeks, the site debuted during Sunshine Week, a national effort dedicated to government transparency.

The data could help federal digital service teams focus on the “services that matter most to the American people” by helping government agencies “understand how people find, access and use government services online,” a White House blog post announcing the site said. (Read more from “New Dashboard Tracks Which Federal Sites You Visit, and How You Got There” HERE)

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ACLU Sues for Airport ‘Behavior Detection’ Program Records

By My FoxNy. A civil rights group is trying to force the federal government to turn over information about airport “behavior detection” programs designed to spot passengers who are potential threats.

A Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in New York City.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the government has been slow to respond to its request to learn more about behavior detection programs that have been used nationwide since 2003. (Read more from this story HERE)

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