Password Protected FOIA Responses

To Whom It May Concern:

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

Any document constituting an authorization by DOJ-OIP for agency FOIA Offices to apply unique, requestor-specific password document files containing non-exempt public records.

Please focus this search on any such authorization or advice provided to DHS agency component FOIA Offices.

Thank you,

Andrew Free
#DetentionKills Transparency Initiative
Al Otro Lado

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,

Andrew Free

Good afternoon,

We never received an acknowledgement or tracking number for this request. Can you please provide one?

Thank you,

Andrew Free
#DetentionKills Transparency Initiative
Al Otro Lado

Thanks very much for this response.

We need to appeal it, as several agencies appear to have received clearance to apply password-protection to public records released through FOIA.

This makes the records less accessible by requiring an additional step before accessing them, a step which is controlled by the requestor. By conditioning access to public records on access to the password the agency attaches to them and provides the requestor, the agency risks not actually releasing the records publicly at all, but rather, engaging in a private distribution regime that flies in the face of the Act’s purpose and text. If, for instance, the agency must weigh the risk of foreseeable harm if certain private information becomes public, but the manner the agency uses to release the record doesn’t automatically render the information public, should the agency take that into consideration when weighing the harm?

Surely there must be an answer within OIP.

We therefore appeal.

Andrew Free
#DetentionKills Transparency Initiative
Al Otro Lado

Many thanks!!