Windows Live Messenger Guidance from EOIR

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. The Windows Live Messenger guidance for EOIR employees, including any records that direct EOIR employees on how and when to use Windows Live Messenger, which May also be called “MSN Messenger”

2. The records used to the train EOIR employees on how to use Windows Live Messenger or MSN Messenger.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Matthew Hoppock

The agency did not conduct a complete search. The adjudication letter says the agency replaced "Windows Live Messenger" with "Skype for Business" in 2018, but the request was not limited to records from 2018. It included records from before the agency stopped using "Windows Live Messenger" and the claim that the agency stopped using it in 2018 does not justify not searching for records predating the abandonment of that platform or withholding responsive records.

Also, the claim in the adjudication letter that the agency replaced Windows Live Messenger with Skype for Business in 2018 appears to be inaccurate. The agency began using Skype for Business in early 2017. This guide for EOIR employees on how to use the platform was published in March, 2017. https://www.hoppocklawfirm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/EOIR-Skype-Messaging-Guide.pdf. And e-mail messages produced this week in response to this request (https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/eoir-foia-e-mails-for-2018-66793/) reflect EOIR employees using the platform in May, 2017.

This FOIA request sought the agency's guidance for agency employees on how to use "Windows Live Messenger" - a platform the agency has acknowledged it was using for instant messaging between employees until 2018. Given that the agency does not appear to have conducted a complete search for these records, we appeal.