BlueLeaks server seizure (Office of the Director of National Intelligence)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States of America.
Tracking #

DF-2021-00063

Multi Request BlueLeaks server seizure
Est. Completion None
Status
No Responsive Documents

Communications

From: Emma North-Best


To Whom It May Concern:

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

Records (including but not limited to emails, reports, briefs, documents, memos, or recordings) mentioning or describing the seizure of a server in Germany containing the Hunter Memorial Library and the BlueLeaks portal operated by Distributed Denial of Secrets.

See BlueLeaks-Server bei Zwickau beschlagnahmt by NetzPolitik (https://netzpolitik.org/2020/polizei-daten-aus-den-usa-blueleaks-server-bei-zwickau-beschlagnahmt/) and the statement from the German prosecutor's office:

Aufgrund eines US-amerikanischen Vorabsicherungsersuchen im Rahmen der internationalen Rechtshilfe in Strafsachen hat die Staatsanwaltschaft Zwickau am 3. Juli 2020 einen Server in einem Rechenzentrum in Falkenstein (Vogtland) sichergestellt, bei dem davon auszugehen ist, dass er von Personen, die im Internet unter dem Namen „Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDosecrets)“ auftreten, genutzt wurde.

Zum Inhalt des US-amerikanischen Verfahrens werden von hier aus keine Auskünfte erteilt. Bei der Sicherstellung handelt es sich um eine vorläufige Maßnahme im Rahmen der internationalen Rechtshilfe in Strafsachen. Nach Eingang des offiziellen US-amerikanischen Rechtshilfeersuchens wird eine Prüfung erfolgen, ob und in welchem Umfang eine gerichtliche Beschlagnahme von Daten mit dem Zweck der Herausgabe als Beweismittel an die US-Behörden in Betracht kommt.

Für die Bewilligung der Rechtshilfe, das heißt für die Entscheidung, ob tatsächlich Beweismittel an die USA herausgegeben werden, ist das Bundesamt für Justiz zuständig.

A translated version of the statement reads:

Due to a US request for preliminary security in the context of international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, the Zwickau public prosecutor secured a server in a data center in Falkenstein (Vogtland) on July 3, 2020 The name "Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDosecrets)" was used.

No information is provided from here on the content of the US proceedings. The seizure is a provisional measure within the framework of international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. After receipt of the official US request for legal assistance, a review will be carried out to determine whether and to what extent a judicial seizure of data for the purpose of surrendering it to the US authorities as evidence is possible.

The Federal Office of Justice is responsible for granting legal assistance, i.e. for deciding whether evidence will actually be released to the USA.

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,

Emma North-Best

From: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Good Morning,

Please find attached your acknowledgment letter.

DNI-FOIA

From: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Good Afternoon,
Your request is currently in our queue to be worked. Please note there are approximately 630 cases ahead of yours, until the status of your request changes, we will not provide any further updates.
DNI-FOIA strives to work our cases on a first in/first out basis and level of complexity and/or volume.
Please know that your cases are important to us. We are working hard to reduce our backlog and get all of our requesters timely responses. Thank you.
Sincerely,
DNI-FOIA

From: Emma North-Best

As I'm sure your office is aware, you are required to give a time estimate, you cannot simply say "there are this many cases ahead of you."

From: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Ms. Best,

With so many cases ahead of yours at the time of the request for an estimate (630) we found it hard to provide you with a realistic time frame for our final response. However, if you are willing to wait until we have completed all of our searches and compiled any responsive records, we can provide an estimate that is much more likely to be met. It is not until searches are completed, the number of responsive documents is known, and we have determined whether internal and/or external coordination will be necessary that we can truly have a better feel for how long processing will take.

Thank you for your continued patience,

-Sally

Sally A. Nicholson
Chief, Information Review &
Release Group
FOIA Public Liaison
ODNI/COO/IMO

From: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Good Afternoon,

Your request is currently in our queue to be worked. Please note there are approximately 394 cases ahead of yours, until the status of your request changes, we will not provide any further updates.

Sincerely,
DNI-FOIA

From: Emma North-Best

So you are refusing to provide an estimated date of completion, as required by statute?

From: Office of the Director of National Intelligence

Good Morning Ms. North-Best,

Please see attached final response.

Sincerely,
DNI-FOIA

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