http://www.sunshineweek.org/
‘March 11 marked the start of America’s third annual Sunshine Wee, a national effort to cast light onto the growing recesses of government secrecy’.
US News is offering up the latest information on the Freedom of Information Act, with links to filing FOI requests to US states, the federal government, and 67 other countries.
“Often the records can be obtained by simply asking for them, but since 9/11, federal agencies have grown increasingly stubborn about what they release. A just-released survey by the National Security Archive found that only 1 in 5 federal agencies meets congressionally mandated requirements for online information access. There’s hope, though: A new bill is making its way through the House of Representatives, with bipartisan backing, that would strengthen the FOIA, one of a host of open government measures being looked at by the new Congress.”
Here’s an online guide to getting what the government’s got:
- The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has an easy-to-use FOI letter generator, for general requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
- For an individual’s files, people should make requests under the Privacy Act. Here are relevant forms from the Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.
- Although access varies, every state now has open meetings or open records laws. The Reporters Committee has a handy guide on this, too.
The question you should be asking yourself is this……
“If I do happen upon a FOIA request, to any of the number of governmental agencies, will by inference this cause my file to expand?”
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