§3502 Definitions

Summary

Defines the main words used in this part of the law. Agency means most executive-branch departments and independent regulatory bodies, including the Executive Office of the President, but it does not include the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Election Commission, the governments of the District of Columbia and U.S. territories (and their subdivisions), or government-owned contractor-operated facilities. Burden means the time, effort, or money people spend to create, keep, or give information to a federal agency, such as reading instructions, getting and using technology, changing processes, searching data, filling out forms, and sending information. Collection of information means asking for or requiring facts or opinions for an agency, when identical questions go to ten or more nonfederal persons or when questions to federal employees are used for general statistics; it excludes collections described under section 3518(c)(1). Director means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Independent regulatory agency means agencies like the Federal Reserve Board, SEC, FCC, FTC, FDIC, and similar agencies named by law. Information resources means information plus related items like staff, equipment, money, and IT. Information resources management means managing those resources to meet agency goals and lower public burden. Information system means a set of resources set up to collect, process, store, use, share, spread, or dispose of information. Information technology has the meaning in section 11101 of title 40 but does not include national security systems as defined in section 11103 of title 40. Person means individuals, businesses or groups, or State, territorial, tribal, or local governments or their parts. Practical utility means an agency’s ability to use information, especially to process it in a timely, useful way. Public information means any information an agency shares with the public. Recordkeeping requirement means a rule to keep records, notify others about them, disclose them, or report about them. Penalty includes fines or other punishments, money judgments or equitable relief, or revoking, suspending, reducing, or denying licenses, privileges, rights, grants, or benefits. Comprehensive data inventory means the inventory made under section 3511(a) but not the individual data assets listed on it. Data means recorded information in any form or medium. Data asset means a grouped collection of data elements or datasets. Machine-readable means data in a format a computer can process easily without human help and without losing meaning. Metadata means descriptive or structural information about data, such as content, format, source, rights, accuracy, provenance, frequency, granularity, publisher or contact info, collection method, and similar details. Open Government data asset means a public data asset that is machine-readable, could be made available in an open format, has no restrictions other than intellectual property, and is based on an open standard kept by a standards organization. Open license means a legal promise that a data asset is free to the public and can be copied, published, shared, cited, or changed without restrictions. Public data asset means government-held data, or part of it, that has been or could be released to the public, including data covered by section 552 of title 5. Statistical laws means subchapter III of this chapter and other laws the Director names that protect information collected for statistical purposes.