ABSTRACT
Balancing security with openness within a society is an issue of paramount concern to all people, but particularly to Americans, who have enjoyed freedom of movement, privacy, and access to governmental information unparalleled elsewhere in the world. It is important that we develop the means to defend against terrorism, but also that we ensure that our societies retain those qualities of openness and freedom that make them so worthy of defending. Terrorism has the chilling effect of challenging openness, and has generated considerable debate about the trade-offs between security and potential limits to individual rights we have traditionally enjoyed. Harlan Onsrud explores some of these issues within the context of public access to geographic information. These questions will likely remain with us and linger unresolved for quite some time, as we grope forward tentatively, seeking an uneasy balance between hope and fear.
