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Since Snowden Leaks, NSA's FOIA Requests Are Up 1,000 Percent
v3rgEz writes "A veritable FOIA frenzy ensued in 2013 following a series of leaks about NSA surveillance programs, recently released documents show. From June 6 to September 4, the National Security Agency's FOIA load increased 1,054 percent over its 2012 intake. In that three-month span, the agency received 3,382 public records requests. For comparison, the NSA received just 293 requests over the same period in 2012. While a few have netted new details about NSA surveillance operations, such as a contract with French security firm VUPEN, the majority appear to have been rejected. MuckRock has a guide on filing with the NSA to maximize your chances of actually getting something back."
Yep, most transparent administration in history
Without Snowden, the people submitting these FOIA requests wouldn't have known what to request, which basically kills the point of actually making the requests. FOIA requires unduly high burden on the requester to actually already know (at least in part) what they're looking for. It's not really written to create transparency, but the illusion of transparency.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
"Government use of black toner up 1000 percent!"
Solving Unix problems since 1989...
are they all slashdotters?
I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
Maybe not to you, but that's where the value of the comparison you are so quick to dismiss comes into play.
In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
I'm fine with sensationalistic reporting on this issue.
We have CNN reporting more on political calculations of both sides in the shutdown, as if that's news.
We have "reporting" on "concerns" one side or the other has of the other side harming themselves politically on myriad issues, not just this, all treated as on the level rather than facetiousness incarnate.
We have polls and BS like Sinead worrying about Miley, another excuse to show her naked body on a wrecking ball.
None of this will be of concern, or even remembered, in a few years.
Loss of freedom because an uncontrolled spy system was abused by politicians to spy on political opponents will be.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
...for a list of everyone whose communications they've intercepted this year. That ought to keep their printers tied up for awhile.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
shouldn't take too long to print out one page saying " ALL of them"
/snrk!
They just filter Congress from the copy they send to the Israelis.
And Goldman-Sachs from the copy the SEC gets.
They should just open source the data and let reddit crowdsource the terrerist finding.
Hey, "if you're not doing anything wrong, you've nothing to hide"(tm), right?
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Doesn't matter - know what your government is doing in your name with your money is deemed unessential, so none will be answered during the shutdown anyway.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Not only that, but if you have never had to respond to one then you really don't know what is involved. It is gathering all requested documents within the time limit the laws (yes, there are differing state FOIA laws) allow as well as knowing what is exempt in those laws and should not be disclosed. There is the tedious process of redacting documents of data not covered as well as preparing the deliverable. It isn't as easy as you would think.
There are legitimate reasons to deny a FOIA request that the law allows for like it or not. National Security is one of those reasons.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
So they fixed the fax machine then?
http://www.wcl.american.edu/lawandgov/cgs/about.cfm#scorecard -- Kind of a useless measurement if it's not comparative, but there is LOTS of data there, and most of it indicates that despite the fact that the NSA spying programs were "revealed" during Obama's administration (they existed for Bush too!) -- There are good signs that the government is taking steps towards better transparency as promised, and progress in this area has been ongoing, making the "most transparent" statement a true one, but leaving a long way to go to be desired.
- Holy crap, I've got MOD points! Who thought that was a good idea.
Hey it is the most transparent administration in history!
It just says more about previous administrations than anything else.
“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.”
- Holy crap, I've got MOD points! Who thought that was a good idea.
Interesting how this journalist figured out that 'one thousand percent' sounds a hell of a lot bigger than 'tenfold' or 'ten times as many.' Hope he's getting paid the big bucks.
The Blade Itself
Does anyone find the fact that it's called "Freedom of INFORMATION act" ironic at all?? I sure do.