Tiago Peixoto has published a new law review article on the uncertain relationship between open data and accountability.

In it, he considers open government, transparency, accountability, press freedom and “open data” and comes to some interesting conclusions.

Peixoto suggests that for “adaptable data to engender accountability, it must fulfill at least two conditions: the publicity and political agency conditions.”

The former condition, although substantially enhanced by digital technologies and increased access to information, has traditionally been enabled by the media. The latter relies upon the basic conditions of democracy, from participatory institutions to free and fair elections.

If you’re interested in open government data, this is well worth the read.