Cloud gives agencies a leg up in FOIA deluge
From FederalNewsRadio.com: New technologies and the cloud are making it easier for agencies to deal with the onslaught of Freedom of Information Act requests they've been receiving over the last few years. FOIA-in-the-cloud is a growing trend among agencies that need to ease the paper and cost burdens. Edith Pemberton, the manager of Information Management and Customer Relations at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said the housing crisis over the last few years has had a huge impact in the number of FOIA requests. read more ...
Mackinac Center hosts town hall meetings on government transparency
From the Mackinac Center for Public Policy: As part of its Open Government Initiative, the Mackinac Center in July and August hosted four town hall meetings around Michigan to help educate residents about the Freedom of Information and Ope ...
Rogers County (Ok.) clerk accuses Progress reporter of harassment
From Claremore Daily Progress: Rogers County Clerk Robin Anderson is accusing a Claremore Daily Progress reporter of harassing her and her staff in a confrontation over public records. Anderson called the sheriff’s office on Aug. 14 to ...
First Amendment expert named to Florida legislative panel on transparency
From The Florida Senate: Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) today announced the appointment of Barbara A. Petersen, President of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation, to a legislative panel that will evaluate and recommend how to pr ...
Major ruling in Knight FOI Fund-supported case
COLUMBIA, Mo. (August 26, 2013) -- In a major ruling in a case supported by the Knight FOI Fund, a Washington DC-based federal district judge has ruled that the Central Intelligence Agency cannot use the CIA Act of 1949 as a catchall rationale for av ...
US seeks to shield emails about emergency network
From Miami Herald: IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Department of Justice obtained temporary legal relief Tuesday to block the release of emails to and from an Iowa sheriff who serves on a federal board charged with building a high-speed broadband networ ...
CIA closes office that declassifies historical materials
From latimes.com: The budget ax has fallen on a CIA office that focused on declassifying historical materials, a move scholars say will mean fewer public disclosures about long-buried intelligence secrets and scandals. The Historical Collecti ...
NFOIC’s State FOIA Friday for August 23, 2013
From NFOIC: A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week. While you're at it, be sure to check out State FOIA Friday Archives. US seeks to shield emails about emergency network read more ...
How privacy advocates shined light on NSA’s unconstitutional surveillance
From The Switch blog at Washington Post: After a legal battle that went on over a year, the federal government was forced to reveal a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court (FISC) opinion that showed the National Security Agency (NSA) enga ...
Secret Court opinion finding NSA surveillance unconstitutional released
From Electronic Frontier Foundation: For over a year, EFF has been fighting the government in federal court to force the public release of an 86-page opinion of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). Issued in October 2011, the secret court's opinion found that surveillance conducted by the NSA under the FISA Amendments Act was unconstitutional and violated "the spirit of" federal law. read more ...
