When you get a group of seasoned FOIA processors, analysts, specialists, or subject matter experts together, the topic of conversation will eventually arrive at ‘how it used to be.’ It is the inevitable progression of the FOIA conversation to eventually discuss what it is was like before technology took over
As 2013 winds down, we wanted to take a look back at the past year at a few of the major events of freedom of information in the U.S. March 10 – 16: Sunshine Week celebrated nationwide As part of Sunshine Week 2011, the 15th Annual National Freedom of Information Day Conference was
This blog post begins a five part series on the relationship between technology and the FOIA. This series will examine the various ways that technology has redefined the FOIA process and will look into the future of FOIA processing as well. We will begin by comparing the old
Canada’s information commissioner, Suzanne Legault, has recommended in a special report to Parliament that the use of instant messaging between government employees is at risk of violating access to information laws. Her report investigated the use of wireless devices and instant messaging in 11 federal institutions. It found there
The Glomar response refers to a “neither confirm nor deny” response from the government to the existence of a record requested via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This response can be utilized to deny information requests related to national security and information requests for law enforcement files regarding privacy.
DC Mayor Vincent C. Gray recently announced the procurement of FOIAXpress, which will be the District’s first-ever citywide FOIA-processing system. This is part of a new initiative designed to improve transparency, public participation and accountability in the District government. “The automated system will be a great benefit not only to
As essential as your FOIA requests may be to you, it is not considered essential by most of federal agencies and department. Most federal agencies have been forced to put their FOIA operations on pause while the federal government is closed. Even those agencies that are still operating as essential
With the end of the fiscal year upon us, the “September Mad Dash” is coming to a close. By “September Mad Dash” I am referring to the effort made by many agencies to meet their FOIA goals of backlog reduction and closing the ten oldest cases within the
Many individuals who have been privileged enough to draft the Annual FOIA Report will tell you it is a daunting task requiring many hours of dedicated work. For some this may hold true, and year after year the Annual FOIA Report occupies a few weeks of their lives. However, this
Examining trends in data collected within the Annual FOIA Report is a great exercise in identifying FOIA goals, monitoring progress, and finding weak aspects of FOIA operations. This can be done for individual FOIA offices or for agencies as a whole; or as will be done in this post, for
