Just days after FOIA celebrated its 49th birthday on July 4, the Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy (OIP) announced a pilot project aimed at improving government transparency by making almost all records released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) available to anyone online. FOIA offices in seven agencies, including the Office of General … Continue reading FOIA Gets an Online Makeover for its 49th Birthday!
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee will hold on open meeting at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in the Archivist's Reception Room (Room 105) from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, July 21, 2015. The Committee will discuss the topics on which the Committee … Continue reading FOIA Advisory Committee to Meet on 7/21 in Washington, DC
With the proliferation of smartphones and tablets has come the development of mobile apps for everything, it seems; now you can add FOIA to that list. This week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the release of its new eFOIA mobile app. The app, the result of a partnership between the DHS Privacy Office … Continue reading FOIA: There’s an app for that!
A little over a month ago, 18F—the digital services shop at the General Services Administration that’s modeled after tech-sector start-ups—released openFOIA. This website gives requesters a central location to learn how to make Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to any of the 100 federal departments and agencies that process public requests for records. The … Continue reading Where Can I Get Basic FOIA Facts?
As we’ve previously mentioned, two subcommittees of the FOIA Advisory Committee -- Oversight and Accountability, and Fees -- have developed surveys to learn more about the areas they are examining. These surveys were recently sent to FOIA Public Liaisons (FPLs) and Federal FOIA professionals across the government. The purpose of the FPL survey is to … Continue reading FOIA Advisory Committee Surveys: Examining the FOIA Landscape
As we’ve noted previously, the United States is a part of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a global effort to make governments more open and accountable to the public. Countries that participate in OGP are required to develop and carry out action plans that include concrete commitments to make the government—you guessed it—more open. These … Continue reading How Would You Modernize FOIA?
Do you love the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and want to help improve it? If so, read on – there may be a role for you on the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee! We hope you already know that the Committee is a diverse group of FOIA experts from inside and outside the government who share … Continue reading FOIA Needs YOU: Apply Today for the FOIA Advisory Committee
Do you find yourself locked in disputes with FOIA requesters (or agency colleagues)? Would you like to learn constructive ways to resolve or avoid disputes in the future? OGIS will present a training session designed to help FOIA professionals develop dispute resolution skills on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at the Archives building on Constitution Ave … Continue reading Dispute Resolution Skills for FOIA Professionals Training Session: June 24, 2015
It’s easy for requesters and agencies to agree that administrative appeals are an important part of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process. It’s not as easy for agencies and requesters to agree on what warrants an appeal. FOIA requires an agency to notify requesters of their right to appeal “any adverse determination” (5 USC … Continue reading (FOIA) Appeal is in the Eye of the Beholder
There are few things in the federal government that do not go by a three letter acronym—or, in government-speak, a TLA. As we at OGIS (that’s the Office of Government Information Services!) are keenly aware, though, government acronyms are not limited to three letters—and they can refer to a wide variety of things. One acronym that … Continue reading What the Government’s Alphabet Soup Means for You
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