The US Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has issued a lawsuit against the FBI, as it continues its push for more information about surveillance practices. EPIC has released a statement in which it explains that it has filed official papers in which it demands access to the results of internal FBI "privacy impact assessments". read more ...

One of my favorite TV shows in the ‘80s was the “People’s Court,” where average citizens argued small cases in front of feisty Judge Joseph Wapner. The show inspired an entire genre of quasi-real courtroom programs that contin ...

Rejoice, O lovers of privacy! For Open WhisperSystems has released Signal for iPhone, which gives any and every iPhone wielder the power to fully encrypt their calls against prying ears — and is completely compatible with OWS’s time-teste ...

An exhaustive Chieftain review of more than 1,000 pages of emails found that three city officials blatantly violated the state’s sunshine law in July. The emails show an extensive, two-day conversation in which the city council members were directed — although they claim to have been advised rather than told — on what stance to take on one of the city’s most controversial issues ...

Four Fort Smith city directors were dismissed from a lawsuit alleging violations of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act according to a Thursday (July 31) court filing. read more ...

Over at The Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf has an excellent piece on Jason Leopold's FOIA lawsuit to obtain former NSA chief Keith Alexander's financial disclosure statements. read more ...

A non-profit watchdog group in Washington D.C. is criticizing Chattanooga's EPB over the costs associated with a recent open records request. A UTC student, and intern for the group, says he was slapped with a large fee after wanting to know more about how much the publicly-owned provider spends on advertising. read more ...

Some of our readers came up with a brilliant plan today to launch a coordinated FOIA (Freedom of information act) campaign. You can see how this came about in the comments section of last nights post 7/31/14. I think its a great idea.I believe we hav ...

From Open the Government: Earlier this year, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VIT) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced S. 2520, the FOIA Improvement Act. The bill has generated a lot of enthusiasm in the open government community because it puts reins on agencies' overuse of the exemption covering "pre-decisional material" by requiring that they weigh the public interest in the release of the record. read more ...

Government units inform Americans about important actions taken or contemplated by placing public notice advertisements, or “legals,” in newspapers. This practice, as old as the United States, is no less valuable in an electronic age than ...