The Foilies are EFF's tongue-in-cheek "awards" given each year during Sunshine Week to government agencies and other institutions and authorities that thwart the public's right to access information. 

Since 2015, EFF has named and shamed dozens of officials for their outrageous, ridiculous, and infuriating responses to records requests under open government laws such as the Freedom of Information Act. We give The Foilies for exorbitant fees, surreal redactions, or extremely long wait times. We highlight cases where reporters have been arrested or threatened with lawsuits for accessing documents.  We even once gave a rock star an award after he attacked student journalists who used open records laws to obtain the guacamole recipe he included in his performance rider.

In 2016, EFF began partnering with the Association of Alternative Newsmedia to publish The Foilies in alternative newsweeklies around the country. 

The Foilies Archive: 

The Foilies 2015 

The Foilies 2016

The Foilies 2017

The Foilies 2018

The Foilies 2019

The Foilies 2020

The Foilies 2021

The Foilies 2022

The Foilies 2023

Protect digital privacy and free expression. EFF's public interest legal work, activism, and software development preserve fundamental rights.
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