This Week’s FOIA Round-Up: Amazon investors suspect of company’s facial recognition technology and top-U.S. ransomware protection firms revealed to have paid hackers directly, charged clients extra
Amazon investors introduce two votes limiting company’s facial recognition technology, contracts reveal that the “trade secret” of ransomware firms is to pay off hackers directly by charging clients extra, and Chicago’s City Council legislative committees fuel a system of patronage and cronyism.
Cooking with FOIA: The military’s official brownie recipe
A 2003 document with the unassuming title of “MIL-C-44072C” first surfaced in early 2010 on the personal website of Finnish programmer Lars Wirzenius, and shortly thereafter saw reporting from Reason, National Public Radio, and the National Security Archive’s Unredacted blog. What was in this document that generated such considerable interest? Nothing less than the military’s official specifications for brownies, spanning an impressive 26 pages.
Spice up your office Slack with J. Edgar Hoover’s handwritten notes
Recently, we received our 1500th submission to the Great Hoover Hunt project, which aims to catalog all of the handwritten notes from longtime Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover in the Bureau’s files. To commemorate the occasion, we put together a collection of some of Hoover’s choicest bureaucratic broadsides, ready to be copy-pasted into your office’s Slack debate over who forgot to pick up more toner.
Follow MuckRock’s requests for prison communication policies in North Carolina
MuckRock is filing requests with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, as well as sheriffs’ offices in each of the state’s counties to learn more about the commissions these agencies are receiving for communication services and their policies around them.
State public records laws continues to face challenges amidst big victories
The state of state public records laws continues to evolve as lawmakers discuss new legislation, court rulings clarify ambiguities in records law, and advocates press for better access. To get a sense of what’s happening, we’ve compiled a list of recent changes to access all across the country. If we missed news in your state, let us know by filling out the form below!
Projects See all
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Subjects Matter: FBI Files
★ Featured- Contribute
- 44% funded
- $2200.00 raised
- 24 backers
This project aims to sift through the hundreds of thousands of pages of FBI archival material we've released, so we can better understand why the Bureau had an eye on these people - and through that, better understand who they're keeping tabs on today. -
State of State Public Records Laws
★ FeaturedIn a goal to arm requesters with knowledge, we’re launching a new project page hosting state-by-state public record law stories and key players fighting for transparency in those states. -
FOIA March Madness 2019
★ FeaturedNow entering year four, FOIA March Madness pits 64 federal government agencies against each other to process an identical request for standard materials, a battle for the title of Most Responsive Agency.