The principles of open government are promoted and celebrated each year during Sunshine Week — observed this year March 16-22. The weeklong initiative is built around National Freedom of Information Day, which has been celebrated since the 1970s on March 16, James Madison’s birthday. Madison is regarded as "the father of freedom of information" based upon his observation that "a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."
EFF is proud to be a part of the open government community and, through our aggressive use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), we strive to promote the disclosure of government information concerning technology policies. Through our FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government (FLAG) Project, we have initiated numerous FOIA requests and lawsuits on topics ranging from FBI surveillance technology to Pentagon efforts to censor military bloggers. Through our FOIA work, we attempt to make important information available to members of Congress, to the news media and – by posting all the material we obtain on our website – to the public at-large. (We also partner with other public interest groups through a collective repository of FOIA-obtained material, http://www.governmentdocs.org).
EFF is also pleased to announce that it has updated and expanded the Bloggers' FAQ on the Freedom of Information Act to provide more information about how to use the law to ask for government records, as well as explain the practical effect of recent changes to the FOIA.
An important measure of our success in prying loose information from reluctant federal agencies is the amount of news coverage generated by our disclosures. Since the inception of the FLAG project in September 2006, documents obtained through our efforts have formed the basis for a number of significant news stories, some of which have appeared on the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post.
A representative sampling of these articles are highlighted below.
FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses
Ryan Singel, Wired News
The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning.
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's lawyers, fought the NSL, challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint to a federal court in San Francisco. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public.
Just Between Us
Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball, Newsweek
The Bush administration is refusing to disclose internal e-mails, letters and notes showing contacts with major telecommunications companies over how to persuade Congress to back a controversial surveillance bill, according to recently disclosed court documents.
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The existence of these documents surfaced only in recent days as a result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by a privacy group called the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The foundation (alerted to the issue in part by a NEWSWEEK story last fall) is seeking information about communications among administration officials, Congress and a battery of politically well-connected lawyers and lobbyists hired by such big telecom carriers as AT&T and Verizon. Court papers recently filed by government lawyers in the case confirm for the first time that since last fall unnamed representatives of the telecoms phoned and e-mailed administration officials to talk about ways to block more than 40 civil suits accusing the companies of privacy violations because of their participation in a secret post-9/11 surveillance program ordered by the White House.
FBI Gained Unauthorized Access to E-Mail
Eric Lichtblau, New York Times
According to a document obtained by EFF through the Freedom of Information Act, an "apparent miscommunication" resulted in unauthorized FBI access to an entire domain's email, rather than the single email account the Bureau had permission to monitor.
Clarity Sought on Electronics Searches
Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post
The Washington Post reported on EFF's partnership with the Asian Law Caucus to bring a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that will force the government to disclose its policies and procedures on border searches, including which rules govern the seizing, copying, storage and distribution information on electronic devices such as laptops.
FBI Email Shows Rift Over Warrantless Phone Record Grabs
Ryan Singel, Wired News
An internal email obtained by EFF from the FBI showed a field agent venting about his colleagues' assertive surveillance efforts, including attempts to sidestep court order requirements to get phone records from service providers.
FBI Recorded 27 Million FISA 'Sessions' in 2006
Ryan Singel, Wired Blog
EFF FOIA documents show that the FBI intercepted 27,728,675 "sessions" in fiscal year 2006 through surveillance technology that monitors telephone communications of suspected spies and terrorists. In contrast, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved a mere 2,176 FBI requests for court-ordered surveillance in 2006.
Declassified Docs Show Fight Over Surveillance, Telecom Immunity
Declan McCullagh, CNET
Documents released through an EFF Freedom of Information Act suit revealed how high-level Administration officials have pushed Congress to amend federal surveillance law and immunize telecommunications companies from lawsuits based on their complicity in unlawful government surveillance.
U.S. Judge Orders Bush to Release Records of Telecom Firm Contacts
Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on a federal court's decision that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence must release records to EFF detailing contacts with telecommunications companies related to a lobbying campaign to immunize the carriers from lawsuits over their role in unlawful government surveillance of millions of Americans.
Pentagon Review Faults Bank Record Demands
Mark Mazzetti and Eric Lichtblau, New York Times
Documents obtained by EFF through the Freedom of Information Act provided a glimpse into the Defense Department's use of National Security Letters to collect bank and credit information in certain Pentagon investigations. The documents revealed that the Defense Department has made systematic errors in its use of NSLs, much like those that the FBI has committed over the past few years.
FBI Data Mining Reached Beyond Initial Targets
Eric Lichtblau, New York Times
Based on records released through an EFF FOIA lawsuit against the Justice Department, the New York Times reported that the FBI asked telecommunications companies to turn over information about people in contact with individuals the FBI was investigating, though a degree removed from any suspicious activity and presumably innocent. An an EFF analysis explained, there is no question that this investigative technique is unlawful.
Point, Click . . . Eavesdrop: How the FBI Wiretap Net Operates
Ryan Singel, Wired News
The EFF obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act revealing the inner workings of the FBI's Digital Collection System Network (DCSNet), a software suite that allows the Bureau to conduct surveillance on a wide variety of digital devices. The documents have helped researchers analyze the security implications of the system.
Army Reports Brass, Not Bloggers, Breach Security
Noah Shachtman, Wired News
According to documents released through an EFF lawsuit against the Army and Defense Department, soldier journalists post far less information that could harm military operations than official .mil websites do. These documents called into question the need for new restrictions on soldiers' online speech, which some critics fear will cause military bloggers to cut back on their posts or shut down their sites altogether.
Gonzales Was Told of FBI Violations
John Solomon, Washington Post
On April 27, 2005, Attorney General Gonzales assured Congress that "there has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" as a result o the PATRIOT Act. An EFF lawsuit against the Department Of Justice revealed that just six days before he made this statment to Congress, Gonzales had been copied on a communication to a presidential oversight board reporting improper use of a National Security Letter by the FBI. This incident helped to prompt an internal Justice Department investigation into whether Gonzales has made false or misleading testimony before Congress.
Lighting a New Frontier
Josh Richman, Oakland Tribune
The Oakland Tribune reported on EFF's ground-breaking FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government Project, which seeks information through Freedom of Information Act about the government's expanding use of new technologies that invade Americans' privacy.
