Gov't. Contractors Beware: Private Info Public
Big contractors and subcontractors doing work for the government should be concerned about a new disclosure rule to take effect by July 1, says Emily W. Murphy. A lawyer at Miller & Chevalier in Washington, D.C., she is former chief acquisition officer for the General Services Administration.
A pilot program jointly proposed by the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council and the Defense Acquisition Regulations Council requires those with prime contracts of $500 million and subcontracts of $1 million or more to submit information to be included in a public database, Murphy tells WashingtonTechnology.com.
The program implements the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which is supposed to make federal spending easier for the public to understand. But it also makes contractors’ proprietary information public, says Murphy.
“If you’re a value-added reseller on the GSA schedule, you’re suddenly going to be telling everyone out there how much you’re paying your suppliers,” as well as who they are, she says. “These are trade secrets.”
