FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Browsing histories are not agency records, rules D.C. Cir.

FOIA News (2015-2023)Allan BlutsteinComment

DC Circ. Says Internet Browsing History Not Subject To FOIA

Law360, Aug. 23, 2021 -- The D. C. Circuit rejected a watchdog group's bid to obtain the web browsing histories of several senior government officials, including the director of the Office of Management and Budget and secretary of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, ruling that they are not considered agency records subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. A three-judge panel issued this holding Friday in a FOIA case brought by Cause of Action Institute, affirming a D. C. federal judge's November 2019 summary judgment order that said federal agencies lacked the requisite control over the history of all webpages to which a person has navigated,. . .

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