Category «Freedom of Information»

Web Resource Documents Latest Firestorm over NSA

“Recent press disclosures about National Security Agency (NSA) electronic surveillance activities — relying on documents provided by Edward Snowden — have sparked one of the most significant controversies in the history of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Today, the nongovernmental National Security Archive at The George Washington University posts a compilation of over 125 documents — …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy

New GAO Reports – DOD Financial Management, Standards For Internal Control In The Federal Government

DOD Financial Management – Ineffective Risk Management Could Impair Progress toward Audit-Ready Financial Statements, GAO-13-123, Aug 2, 2013 Standards For Internal Control In The Federal Government – 2013 Exposure Draft, GAO-13-830SP, Sep 3, 2013

Subjects: E-Government, E-Records, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management

NYT – Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.’s

Scott Shane and Colin Moynihan: “For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans’ phone calls — parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency’s hotly disputed collection of phone …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Facebook Global Government Requests Report

“Transparency and trust are core values at Facebook. We strive to embody them in all aspects of our services, including our approach to responding to government data requests. We want to make sure that the people who use our service understand the nature and extent of the requests we receive and the strict policies and …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Patriot Act, Privacy

ACLU to Court: Government Spying Invades Privacy of Each and Every American

ACLU: “[On August 26, 2013], we filed the opening brief in our lawsuit challenging the NSA’s ongoing collection of the call records of virtually everyone in the United States, including the ACLU’s. We’re asking the court for a preliminary injunction ordering the government to stop collecting our data and to bar any use of the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

Financial Disclosure by Federal Officials and Publication of Disclosure Reports

CRS – Financial Disclosure by Federal Officials and Publication of Disclosure Reports, Jack Maskell, Legislative Attorney. August 22, 2013 “High-level officials in all three branches of the federal government are required to publicly disclose detailed information concerning their financial holdings and transactions in income-producing property and assets, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and real …

Subjects: Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of PATRIOT Act

U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act (as required by Section 1001(3) of Public Law 107-56), August 2013. “Between January 1, 2013 and June 30, 2013, the period covered by this report, the OIG processed 515 new civil rights or …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy

UK Guardian to share Snowden NSA documents with New York Times

Via the Guardian’s Lisa O’Carroll: “The Guardian has struck a partnership with the New York Times which will give the US paper access to some of the sensitive cache of documents leaked by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden. The arrangement was made when the Guardian was faced with demands from the UK government …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research, Patriot Act

International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance

Final version 10 July 2013 –International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance: “As technologies that facilitate State surveillance of communications advance, States are failing to ensure that laws and regulations related to communications surveillance adhere to international human rights and adequately protect the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. This …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Privacy

The Declassification Engine

The Declassification Engine Computational Analysis of Official Secrecy “The declassification engine refers to a set of applications that will provide new forms of access to official documents as well as tools to help interpret them. This toolkit will expand over time. Currently its main projects are the (de)classifier, a tool displaying cable activity over time …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management

EPIC – DHS Facial Recognition System Lacks Privacy Safeguards

“In response to an EPIC FOIA request, the Department of Homeland Security has produced documents revealing that the agency has failed to establish privacy safeguards for “BOSS” (the Biometric Optical Surveillance System), an elaborate system for facial recognition and individual identification. The documents obtained by EPIC indicate that none of the agency’s contracts or statements …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Patriot Act, Privacy

FISA court ruling on illegal NSA e-mail collection program

Washington Post – Ellen Nakashima, “The National Security Agency unlawfully gathered as many as tens of thousands of e-mails and other electronic communications between Americans as part of a now-discontinued collection program, according to a 2011 secret court opinion [redacted]. The 86-page opinion, which was declassified by U.S. intelligence officials Wednesday, explains why the chief …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Patriot Act, Privacy