Some things are supposed to be private….

Anti-biotechnology activists managed to leverage sunshine laws in Europe to get the EU government to release research information that was supposed to be confidential. Now the activists are trying to do the same thing in India, but for now the Supreme Court are debating the issue.

The research information is submitted to the government under the premise of confidentiality. The government has access to the information so it can review the safety and efficacy of new products, but it has made a promise to keep the information confidential for a time period.

The sunshine laws was never meant to give competitors access to proprietary business research, it was meant to give insight into the day to day workings of politicians and bureaucrats. Using it to break down corporate trust in the regulatory system will stymie innovation, which will cost all of us in the end.