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Post by avordvet on Feb 11, 2017 6:43:29 GMT -5
FBI Throws Up Digital Roadblock to TransparencyBeginning March 1, FBI Will No Longer Accept FOIA Requests Via EmailFebruary 10, 2017 | By Aaron Mackey It’s well documented that the FBI is keen on adopting new technologies that intrude on our civil liberties. The FBI’s enthusiasm for technology, however, doesn’t extend to tools that make it easier for the public to understand what the agency is up to—despite such transparency being mandated by law. The FBI recently announced that it’s removing the ability for the public to send Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the agency via email. Instead, the FBI will now only accept requests sent through snail mail, fax, or a poorly designed and extremely limited website. The FBI’s decision to abandon email—a free and ubiquitous method of communication—as a means of sending in FOIA requests will make sending requests to the agency far more difficult. The decision will thus undoubtedly thwart both transparency and accountability, and the FBI must be well aware of this. In a world in which thermostats and toasters are increasingly connected to the Internet, the FBI's rejection of emailed FOIA requests is a slap in the face to transparency. The FBI's decision is all the more galling given that other agencies are currently embracing technologies that both help people making FOIA requests and help the agencies more efficiently and effectively process them. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/02/fbi-throws-digital-roadblock-transparency
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