SSI's shortcomings are no secret.(sensitive security information)

The Government Accountability Office has struck a blow for open government. On June 29, the congressional watchdog office issued a report criticizing the Transportation Security Administration's uncontrolled use of the "Sensitive Security Information" label on information that isn't-quite-government-classified, but shouldn't-quite-be-out-there in public.

The GAO found that virtually any TSA employee could mark any document as SSI, with no guidelines or executive oversight. Once information had the SSI label, there was no way to track the documents for future reconsideration and release. The TSA smothered security information that supply-chain security practitioners could have used.

The results of too much SSI have ranged …