Freedom of Information Act

 Freedom of Information Act 

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) started in 1967, providing the public with access to classified material from federal agencies. It is known to be the law that allows citizens to learn about their own government. The federal agencies are required to uncover the requested information under the FOIA unless it’s listed under one of the nine exemptions. The exemptions were issued to protect interests like personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement (FOIA). 

FOIA Website

The FOIA has a website that serves as the government’s official database for all information regarding the FOIA. In spite of its many features, the website also provides a resource for users to understand the FOIA process in locating records that are available online, and to make requests for private information that has yet to be shared or publicly available. The website also promotes accountability of agencies that have been administered by the FOIA for display of the statistics collected in the FOIA annual reports. This is so they can be compared to agencies over time. 

Records

Any record from a federal agency can be requested under the FOIA. If you like, you may also order a specific format you want to receive the record. For instance, print or electronic. 

Exemptions

As mentioned earlier, not every record will be released from the FOIA. There are nine exemptions that have been established by Congress to keep certain types of information private to prevent such harms like invasion of privacy, or harm to detective work in law enforcement. The FOIA permits these agencies in certain cases to withhold information if they believe the disclosure could potentially harm an interest covered by one of the listed exemptions (FOIA).

Exemption 1: Information that is classified to protect national security.

Exemption 2: Information related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.

Exemption 3: Information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law.

Exemption 4: Trade secrets or commercial or financial information that is confidential or privileged.

Exemption 5: Privileged communications within or between agencies

Exemption 6: Information that, if disclosed, would invade another individual’s personal privacy.

Exemption 7: Information compiled for law enforcement purposes

Exemption 8: Information that concerns the supervision of financial institutions.

Exemption 9: Geological information on wells.

The FOIA has had many requests submitted to them. In favor of this, the MITRE FOIA Assistant was established. The prototype is a functional tool created by MITRE to gather the interest of several agencies. It is currently being tested. The system has a mix of artificial intelligence and language processing capabilities; and has grown from independent research and special programs.