Dewie the Turtle

Dear Federal Trade Commission:

This is a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act.

RECORDS REQUESTED

All records related to the FTC's internet safety mascot, Dewie the Turtle (sometimes also referred to as "Dewie the E-Turtle"). These would include (but are not limited to) (1) all records related to the conception and development of the Dewie costume or character; (2) any guidelines or guidance related to the use of the Dewie costume or character; (3) any Dewie-related contracts; (4) any records featuring or mentioning Dewie; and (5) any communications or correspondence related to Dewie.

REQUEST FOR FEE WAIVER

The requested documents will be made available to the general public online for free via muckrock.com, a FOIA journalism site. This request is part of the Federal Agency Mascot Project. This request is not being made for commercial purposes. Therefore, I respectfully request that any fees associated with this request please be waived.

FORM OF PRODUCTION

I would prefer that responsive records be produced electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or by CD-ROM if not.

CONCLUSION

Thank you very much, and I look forward to your response within 20 business days.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Marritz

Dear FTC:

I hereby appeal the FTC’s response to my FOIA request 2022-00216.

BACKGROUND

I filed my FOIA request on November 17, 2021. The request sought: “All records related to the FTC's internet safety mascot, Dewie the Turtle (sometimes also referred to as "Dewie the E-Turtle"). These would include (but are not limited to) (1) all records related to the conception and development of the Dewie costume or character; (2) any guidelines or guidance related to the use of the Dewie costume or character; (3) any Dewie-related contracts; (4) any records featuring or mentioning Dewie; and (5) any communications or correspondence related to Dewie.”

On November 23, 2021, the FTC sent me a final response letter stating: “The records you requested are on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public record. A formal Freedom of Information Act request is not necessary to obtain this material. In the future, you can find public material on the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov.”

REASONS FOR MY APPEAL

A. It is unlikely that all responsive records are available on the FTC’s website.

On November 27, 2021, I searched for the word “Dewie” using the “search” text box on the FTC’s website. (https://search.usa.gov/search?query=dewie&submit.x=3&submit.y=3&affiliate=ftc_prod). The search yielded 16 results. For the following reasons, I believe that additional responsive records are likely to exist.

1. According to a 2003 speech by former FTC chair Timothy J. Muris: On September 26, 2002, FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle announced a multimedia and multifaceted consumer education effort to increase public awareness of the importance of good information security practices. The FTC's information security home page has registered more than 200,000 accesses. In addition, the Commission produced a video news release, which was seen on local news stations by an estimated 1.5 million consumers and distributed 160,000 postcards featuring Dewie the Turtle, the campaign mascot, and his information security message to about 400 college campuses nationwide. (The speech is available at https://www.ftc.gov/public-statements/2003/08/federal-trade-commission-and-future-development-us-consumer-protection)

The Commission should have produced the video news release, the postcard, and any other materials featuring Dewie.

2. A 2003 FTC press release says that the National Consumer Protection Week website, http://www.consumer.gov/ncpw, “features a colorful poster of Dewie the e-Turtle.” However, that website is now defunct.

The Commission should have produced the poster and any other records featuring Dewie.

3. A 2006 FTC press release says that its website featuring Dewie, https://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity, is one of the FTC’s most popular websites. (https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2006/09/ftc-continues-education-enforcement-efforts-promote-information) However, https://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity now redirects to https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/privacy-and-security/data-security, an FTC site that (as far as I can tell) contains no mention of Dewie.

The Commission should have produced the records featuring Dewie that were formerly available via https://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity.

4. My request specifically sought (1) all records related to the conception and development of the Dewie costume or character; (2) any guidelines or guidance related to the use of the Dewie costume or character; (3) any Dewie-related contracts; (4) any records featuring or mentioning Dewie; and (5) any communications or correspondence related to Dewie. However, none of the 16 results I found using the search box on the FTC’s website are responsive to categories (1), (2), or (3). No communications or correspondence responsive to category (5) were produced, other than press releases. And the records responsive to category (4) are likely incomplete for the reasons stated above.

The Commission should have searched for and produced all records responsive to my request.

B. Even if all responsive records were available on the FTC’s website, the FTC should have said where on that website the responsive records could be found.

The FTC’s website is massive. Given that, “look at our website” is not a sufficient response. At a minimum, the FTC should have said where on the website the responsive records could be found. If these 16 search results are in fact all of the responsive records that the FTC has in its possession, custody, or control, please say so.

CONCLUSION

For these reasons, the FTC's response to my FOIA request No. 2022-00216 was insufficient. Please search for and produce all records responsive to my request. Thank you for your consideration of this appeal.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Marritz

Dear Ms. Tucci:

Thank you for your response to my appeal. I appreciate the hard work of the FOIA Unit and have no doubt that they searched for records in good faith. I appreciate that they queried the offices most likely to have responsive records. On that note: the FTC spokesperson most closely associated with the "Dewie" character appears to have been former FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle. I'm not sure how the FTC's archival records are organized, but the records of Commissioner Swindle might be a good place to look. And in case its helpful—and while I know full well that the FOIA doesn't require an agency to answer questions—the main questions that I'm hoping to answer via these records are (1) whose idea was it to have an "online safety mascot" in the first place, and what was the thought process behind that? (2) who designed the mascot, and what was the design process like (e.g. were there multiple design concepts submitted), (3) were there any fun Dewie-related promotional items or tchotchkes created (e.g pens, posters, trading cards), and (4) when did the Commission stop using the Dewie character, and why?

Thanks again for your help with this request—and for all you did at the Bureau of Consumer Protection.

With best regards,

Nick Marritz