Request for Privacy Practices Information at Commonwealth Fusion Cente

To Jason Stelmat, Privacy Officer
Commonwealth Fusion Center

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act and under the Massachusetts Public Records Law (M. G. L. Chapter 66, Section 10). I am requesting that I be provided a copy of the following records:

(1) Any records pertaining to complaints received by the Commonwealth Fusion Center’s Privacy Officer, including total number of complaints received, dismissed, and resolved, per year;
(2) Any audits performed by the Department of Homeland Security of the Commonwealth Fusion Center;
(3) Any records pertaining to “alleged errors and violations of the center’s privacy policy”, as specified on lines 10-11, page 3, of CFC-02 “Commonwealth Fusion Center Privacy Policy”, updated 06/23/2013;
(4) Any records pertaining to the membership, minutes and reports of the Privacy Oversight Committee (line 25, page 3, of CFC-02 “Commonwealth Fusion Center Privacy Policy”, updated 06/23/2013;
(5) Any records pertaining to the Massachusetts State Police Commander or his designee’s duty to liaise with the community regarding the Privacy Policy (lines 35-37, page 3, of CFC-02 “Commonwealth Fusion Center Privacy Policy”, updated 06/23/2013;
(6) Any unauthorized or accidental releases of information held by the Commonwealth Fusion Center, as listed in the audit trail specified in lines 48-49, page 3, of CFC-02 “Commonwealth Fusion Center Privacy Policy”, updated 06/23/2013;
(7) Any other or prior versions of CFC-02 “Commonwealth Fusion Center Privacy Policy”;
(8) Any data held by the Commonwealth Fusion Center on: the numbers of Suspicious Activity Reports; the number of different individuals in the Suspicious Activity Report database; the number of Suspicious Activity Reports forwarded to the Department of Homeland Security; the number of Suspicious Activity Reports retained; the number of full investigations launched as a result of information in Suspicious Activity Reports; the nature of the Suspicious Activity Reports retained; and the number and nature of Suspicious Activity Reports deleted after the five-year data retention period expired;
(9) The CFC-04 “Guidelines for Investigations Involving First Amendment Activity” include provisions on “exigent circumstances” (page 3, paragraph 7) that allow full investigations to be started “immediately without approval where it would be impractical to seek approval without compromising officer safety, public safety or the integrity of the investigation.” In such circumstances, a “written recommendation must be submitted as soon as reasonably possible thereafter to the CFC Commander.” We request any information on when these “exigent circumstances” provisions have been used, including copies of any “written recommendations.” This request includes any cases where these provisions may have been used to renew investigations that would otherwise have been closed;
(10) Information on the actual penalties faced by Commonwealth Fusion Center personnel for violating any of the policies and guidelines of the Commonwealth Fusion Center relating to privacy and civil liberties, including documentation of any cases where penalties were applied to Commonwealth Fusion Center personnel, or where access to the Commonwealth Fusion Center was denied to any person who was not Commonwealth Fusion Center personnel as a result of such a violation;
(11) Information on the number of records held or accessed by the Commonwealth Fusion Center that include data from the following sources: cellphone tower dumps, International Mobile Subscriber Identity catchers (commonly known as “Stingrays”), surveillance cameras, Trapwire or other similar data integration systems, retinal scans, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, or other sources of biometric data;
(12) Any other or prior versions of CFC-04 “Guidelines for Investigations Involving First Amendment Activity”;
(13) The CFC-04 “Guidelines for Investigations Involving First Amendment Activity” indicate that “The CFC will review all information gathered under this policy at least once every five years to determine whether a legitimate law enforcement purpose still exists to hold the information.” (page 5, paragraph 2). Given the date of the founding of the Commonwealth Fusion Center, at least two such reviews ought to have occurred. We request copies of these reviews, including information on how many investigations were closed, and reasons for why they were closed;
(14) Any documents relating to written arrangements between the Commonwealth Fusion Center and private firms, including banks, other financial institutions, infrastructure and energy firms, utilities, telecommunications companies, Internet Service Providers, software companies, computer hardware manufacturers, or defense firms;
(15) Any documents relating to written arrangements between the Commonwealth Fusion Center and regulatory agencies, including EPA, local boards of health and fire departments;
(16) The numbers of records and types of information, if any, received from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and its subordinate departments, commissions, or initiatives.
(17) Any documents relating to written arrangements between the Commonwealth Fusion Center and the Joint Terrorism Task Force or the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(18) Any statistics held by the Commonwealth Fusion Center or the Massachusetts State Police on stop and frisks, especially those resulting from preliminary inquiries or full investigations conducted via the Commonwealth Fusion Center.
(19) Any documentation relating to investigations opened into individuals on the basis of their involvement with groups with no known history of violence.
We also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived, as we believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge, as part of a forthcoming report on the policies, procedures and practices of fusion centers in Massachusetts. In the event that fees cannot be waived, kindly inform us of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. We would prefer the request to be fulfilled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available, or via CD-ROM if not.
After the fulfillment of this request, we further request that the Privacy Officer of the Commonwealth Fusion Center and the Massachusetts State Police Commander or his designee, be made available for meetings before April 30, 2014, with representatives of privacy and civil liberties-oriented groups.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. As required by the Massachusetts Public Records Law, we look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 calendar days.

Sincerely,

Alex Marthews,
President, Digital Fourth

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 14, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 14, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 14, 2014. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your help.

To Whom It May Concern:

Please confirm that payment has been received for the Freedom of Information Request from Digital Fourth dated April 14, 2014, and that processing will be completed by August 1, 2014. If we have not received a processed request by that date, we will file an appeal with the Supervisor of Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth to secure disclosure of the records in question.

Thank you

Alex Marthews.