According to Kerckhoff, "A [crypto]system should be secure even if everything about the system, except the key, is public knowledge."
If any amount of your security depends on hiding how the system works, you have a broken system (according to said law).
Nobody is arguiung that the van passcodes or personnel files should be disclosed; those specifics are immaterial. We are asking that how the system works, and how that is evaluated, be made public, and be placed under scrutiny. Otherwise, there is no reason to believe this system does anything but provide a vector for corruption.
> "releasing the documents would hamper the department's ability to conduct operations and endanger the lives of New Yorkers."
Then apparently the lives of New Yorkers are protected by security through obscurity, with absolutely no evidence of efficacy and absolutely no auditable evaluation of safety.
I'm thinking that a strong education in science should be a requirement for anyone who touches these programs with a ten foot pole.
I hate business models that work by wasting your time. It's not a bad article though.