FOIA News: FBI tests eFOIA portal, good government groups take issue with ID requirement

FBI tests eFOIA portal, good government groups take issue with ID requirement

By Chris Nehls, Fierce Government, Dec. 10, 2015

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is testing a new online form to streamline Freedom of Information Act requests for documents that it previously processed in paper format. While the bureau says the new electronic system will boost its efficiency, government watchdogs say added requirements may prove to be counterproductive.

Currently in beta testing, the FBI plans to implement a full rollout of its eFOIA web portal in several months. The new online process will give citizens an alternative to mailing, faxing or emailing requests for documents.

Users, however, will be required to attach an image of a government-issued form of identification and will be limited to one request per day.

Read more here.

FOIA News: In Lawsuit, Journalist Seeks Hillary Clinton’s Deleted Personal Emails

In Lawsuit, Journalist Seeks Hillary Clinton’s Deleted Personal Emails

By Byron Tau, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 8, 2015

A journalist has sued to gain access to emails recovered from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s private email server, a cache that could include tens of thousands of personal notes that Mrs. Clinton said she had deleted.

In a new lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Vice News reporter Jason Leopold asks the Department of Justice to produce any material investigators have recovered from Mrs. Clinton’s private email server, which she turned over to the department in August.

The Department of Justice has been probing the Democratic presidential candidate’s email arrangement, with digital forensics experts attempting to recover emails deleted from the server. Officials say Mrs. Clinton is not the subject of the investigation, which is focused on the potential mishandling of classified information.

Mr. Leopold’s lawsuit seeks access to any recovered files, which could include the roughly 30,000 emails that Mrs. Clinton described as personal in nature and said she deleted rather than turn over to the State Department.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Groups demand information on Camp Lejeune disability claims

Groups demand information on Camp Lejeune disability claims

By Patricia Kime, Military Times, Dec. 7, 2015

The approval rate for disability claims filed with the Veterans Affairs Department for illnesses related to poisonous drinking water at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, has dropped by two-thirds since VA implemented a third-party review process to provide medical opinions on related diagnoses.

The Camp Lejeune subject matter expert program requires a VA-appointed physician to review the medical files of former troops who lived on base from 1953 to 1987 and are seeking compensation for illnesses possibly related to drinking contaminated water there.

But since the program was introduced in 2012, claims approvals have dropped from 25 percent to 8 percent, prompting critics to question the independence and training of the VA's 22 to 30-some experts, whom the department has not identified.

Veterans advocacy groups, including Vietnam Veterans of America, the Connecticut State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America and The Few, the Proud, the Forgotten, have filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records about the subject matter expert program, seeking information on the identities, training and education of those experts.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Appeals Court Hears Arguments Tomorrow on Blocked Chicken Info.

Appeals Court Hears Arguments Tomorrow on Blocked Chicken Info.

By Dan Flynn, Food Safety News, Dec. 8, 2015

When it comes to food safety transparency, how much company information can you pry out of government agencies by using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?

On Wednesday, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco will hear arguments on both sides of that question in a case on appeal since October 2013 and known as ALDF v. FDA.

The information sought by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) dates back to 2010 when ALDF asked for certain FDA records from enforcement of the then-new Egg Rule in Texas.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Final Jeopardy! Clue on FOIA

On Jeopardy! last night (12/7/15), the Final Jeopardy! category was U.S. LEGISLATION. This was the clue:

The website for this ’60s act says “First look to see if the information you are interested in is already publicly available”

Answer:

Tonight's "Jeopardy!" was journalist-friendly, including a newspaper category and this final answer. #FOIA pic.twitter.com/elhow81KWj

— Andrew Knapp (@offlede) December 8, 2015

FOIA News: The CIA Won’t Reveal What’s in its Secret Art Collection

The CIA Won’t Reveal What’s in its Secret Art Collection

By Danny Lewis, Smithsonian Magazine, Dec. 7, 2015

There are 29 paintings hanging on the walls of the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia. But as Portland artist Johanna Barron discovered first-hand, if you want to learn more about them than what's given in the pithy descriptions provided on the Agency’s website, you'll likely be out of luck. Barron filed several Freedom of Information Act requests to attain information about the paintings but got nowhere.

Instead of giving up, however, Barron turned frustration into inspiration. In a new exhibition in San Francisco, the artist tries to recreate the mysterious paintings from the tiny snippets of description she has pieced together from reams of research and denied requests. “I felt this increasing need to try to uncover details that seemed to be kept secret for no logical reason,” she tells Jessica Zack for SFGate.

Read more here.

FOIA News: FBI under fire for requiring photo ID

Critics slam FBI’s new app that demands ID before sharing public data

RT, Dec. 5, 2015

The FBI’s new data-requesting eFOIA app comes with controversial terms: The agency wants your ID in exchange for the information. Critics argue that the FBI collecting the requesters’ sensitive information is “over the top” and likely illegal.

The Bureau presented its new application, eFOIA, earlier this week. According to an official press release, it is for “a new generation that’s not paper-based” who want to “obtain the FBI records a little quicker.” Previously, the FBI was accepting such requests only through regular mail, fax or e-mail.

However, the app comes with a new – and quite controversial – requirement: the FBI wants a photo of a requester’s government-issued ID first. Without it, the agency will not process a request and, thus, decline to share the information it must share under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

For its part, the Bureau said it needs the photo “so the FBI is confident in the identity of the requester.” However, no such ID is required when processing FOIA requests through other means.

This is where critics argue the FBI actually makes the process harder, not easier – and probably not safer, either.

“The FBI does not explain how people’s ID cards will be stored, used, or shared, except under its rather broad existing site-wide privacy policy,”investigative researcher Dave Maass wrote at The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). He said this requirement should be “treated as a bug and excised from the new system.”

Read more here.

Court opinion issued Dec. 2, 2015

Gahagan v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Servs. (E.D. La.) -- granting in part and denying in part agency's motion for summary judgment concerning request for an immigration file and related correspondence from agency field office. First, the court held that the agency's declarant was not required to have personally participated in the search for responsive records in order to have requisite personal knowledge of the search.  Second, the court held that the agency conducted an adequate search and that it was not required to explain why it did not search search in certain locations.  Third, the court found that USCIS had not discharged its FOIA obligations because four pages that it referred to the U.S. Department of State had not yet been processed.  Lastly, the court ordered USCIS to submit a new Vaughn Index to address various deficiencies, including withholdings under Exemption 5 and segregability.          

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Nov. 30, 2015

Boyd v. Exec. Office for U.S. Attorneys (D.D.C.) -- determining that the agency:  (1) properly withheld records of interviews of third parties pursuant to Exemption 6 and 7(C); (2) properly withheld a "Conflict of Interest Certification" form under Exemption 3, in conjunction with 5 U.S.C. app. 4 § 107(a)(2); (3) properly withheld the first page of a letter concerning grand jury's investigation under Rule 6 (e) of Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, but that agency improperly relied on same privilege to withhold remaining pages; (4) properly withheld the remaining pages of aforementioned letter under Exemptions 5 and 7(C), except for one sentence that court deemed non-exempt.    

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.

Court opinion issued Nov. 25, 2015

Virginia-Pilot Media Cos. v. Dep't of Justice (E.D. Va.) -- finding that the FBI conducted an adequate search for responsive records and properly invoked Exemptions 5, 7(E), and 7(F), but declaring that plaintiff was prevailing party for purposes of attorney's fees because lawsuit was necessary to prompt agency's response.   

Summaries of all opinions issued since April 2015 available here.