FOIA

A&A: Can TSA deny company public information under FOIA?

Q:  I’ve got something that just smells really fishy and I’m thinking there’s something more to it. My company forecasts when places are busy, then shares the results with the public. One vertical where we’ve had good adoption has been in airports, where we forecast TSA wait times at the top 100 US airports. In fact, the results have been good enough to be adopted by airlines, search engines and others as the industry standard. To

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FOIA requests on targeted-drone attacks denied by White House; FAC has filed suit for DOJ legal memorandum

The White House rejected FOIA requests from The New York Times and the American Civil Liberties Union for documents regarding the legal justifications for the alleged U.S. government killing of U.S. citizens and others associated with al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, CBS News reported today. The First Amendment Coalition has filed a separate suit in federal district court in San Francisco for access to a Justice Department legal memorandum on the subject of targeted killings.

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Electronic Frontier Foundation provides support for bloggers seeking access to government

Stating that “people who do journalism are journalists,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation is fighting efforts of government bodies to deny local bloggers, sometimes called “hyperlocals,” the rights and status of other journalists. The EFF’s “Legal Guide for Bloggers” provides information about the right of access to public meetings and records.  -db From a commentary in Street Fight Magazine,  May 29, 2012, by Brian Dengler. Full story  

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Agency investigating GSA for travel fraud refusing to release records

The office of the Inspector General for the General Services Administration has refused a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on their investigation of GSA travel fraud saying to release the documents would jeopardize the investigation. As part of the inquiry, the Inspector General is looking into the profligate spending at a 2010 GSA conference in Las Vegas. -db From The Washington Times, May 10, 2012, by Jim McElhatton. Full story  

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Federal court shields Google/NSA partnership from public scrutiny

The U.S. Court of Appeals from D.C. ruled that interchanges between Google and the National Security Agency on cybersecurity and encryption are not part of the public record. The Electronic Privacy Information Center used a Freedom of Information Act request to seek the records following a cyber attack against Google in 2012. -db From The Blog of Legal Times, May 11, 2012, by Mike Scarcella. Full story

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