Some are red, some are blue, but they are all green… as in greenback-green. That’s the way Nick Rubin, a 16-year old programmer from Seattle sees it. And to help everybody else see it too, he just launched Greenhouse, a web application using open data to help users know where American politicians get their money from.

Imagine that in Canada…

GREENHOUSE

Politicians who embrace controversial point of views don’t necessarily do it for their own beliefs… unless those beliefs are tightly linked to their wallet. That’s where the Greenhouse web app comes into action.

WHAT IT’S FOR

Activate this browser extension and it will scan the current web page for names of politicians, and then search for who made contributions to their campaigns in the past, listing it all by industry in a pop-up window.

DOES IT WORK?

Absolutely. The best part is that this app uses readily available open data, sourced from sites, such as opensecrets.org, and organizes it into contextual windows.

WHAT’S MISSING?

A local developer willing to adapt this concept to Canadian federal and provincial politics.

VERDICT

Facing major governmental inaction in regards to improved ethics and transparency, tools such as this one are a must in helping the general public know how political decisions are made (or not).

PLATFORM

PC and Mac, via the Chrome, Firefox and Safari browsers

PRICE

Free