While there has been some progress in increasing transparency and accountability in government under the Obama administration, “as far as we can tell from existing numbers, those policies have yet to fully change the direction of government,” a new report on government secrecy released today says. 

“Efforts to open the government continue to be frustrated by a governmental predisposition towards secrecy, especially in the national security bureaucracy,” the 2012 Secrecy Report from  OpenTheGovernment.org says.

“Among the troubling trends: the National Declassification Center will not meet its goal for declassifying old records on time; the government continues to use the state secrets privilege in the same way it did prior to release of a new procedural policy; and the volume of documents marked “Classified” continues to grow, with little assurance or reason offered for the decision that the information properly needs such protection. 

Encouraging signs are seen, including more FOIA requests processed; disclosure of spending on intelligence; and a dip in the number of government workers who can declare information a secret, a summary of the report notes.

Here is a “snapshot” in the report on highlights: