FBI Improves its FOIA Search Procedures

The FBI stunned me today.

It has quietly implemented changes that should significantly increase the chance that people requesting FBI documents under the Freedom of Information Act will actually find something useful.  And it has done so in a way that actually lessens the burden on such requesters.

Regular readers of this blog -- all three or so of you :-) -- will know that I've made heavy use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in my phone phreak history research.  One of my most frequent pen pals for these requests has been the FBI: at last count I've submitted about 300 FOIA requests to them.

This has caused me to become a reluctant expert in FBI FOIA procedures (for example, see here and here).  And I've learned that the FBI makes you jump through flaming hoops to have any chance of getting the records you're looking for.  For example, you need to know certain magic words (like asking for a search of the "manual indices") or else they only search for your requests in their computerized database... which would be ok if their computerized database went back further than 1973!  And you need to know to send requests not just to FBI Headquarters but also to any or all of the 56 FBI Field Offices that might have had something about the topic you're investigating.  (To its credit, if you jump through the right hoops, the FBI seems to have been pretty good about searching for records, at least in my experience.)

Well, today I got back a FBI FOIA request acknowledgment letter that mentioned the FBI conducted a search of "our central records system at FBI Headquarters and all FBI field offices."  Huh?!  I didn't even ask for a search of all field offices.  So I called David P. Sobonya, the FBI FOIA Public Information Officer, to ask if something had changed.

Mr. Sobonya said that as a result of Attorney General Holder's FOIA memorandum the FBI has improved its FOIA search procedures.  The FBI will now automatically search the records of both Headquarters and all FBI Field Offices with one simple request to Headquarters.  This should dramatically increase the chances of finding goodies while simplifying life for the FOIA requester.  In addition he said that they will now automatically search both the automated and manual indices, whether or not a requester asks for it.  Finally, he said they are now accepting emailed and faxed Privacy Act requests (whereas before they only accepted them via snail mail).

This is excellent news and should be a big improvement for FBI FOIA accuracy and ease of use.  Kudos to the Department of Justice and FBI for taking this important step.

Comments

[Mark Spano]

Wow, Phil, that is great news. After listening to your discussion on FOIA requests from the conference, it sounded a little daunting. I am sure this will make many lives easier. Thanks for the update.

[Nick James]

I must say, that's pretty impressive stuff. Good to see that government departments and their heads are still capable of making sensible decisions, and then enacting them. Thanks for the info, I'm sure it'll prove helpful (and hopeful) to many people.

[Kristin Adair]

Despite what Mr. Sobonya said, the FBI likely improved its search procedures because of the National Security Archive's Rosemary Award, not the Holder memo. The latter (March 19) doesn't mention searching, just disclosure, while the Rosemary award (announced March 13) was based on the fact that the FBI had a record-setting number of "no records" responses, precisely because of its inadequate search protocol. See http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20090313/index.htm
and perhaps more importantly, the March 13 Al Kamen column in the Washington Post poking fun at the FBI for its flawed search process.

[Phil Lapsley]

Thanks, Kristin, for that perspective, and for the National Security Archive's great work.

In the spirit of transparency :-) it is worth pointing out that Kristin is Staff Counsel at the National Security Archive.

[Dr. Professor]

When you note the FBI will now accept Privacy Act requests via fax or email, does that mean they don't do the same for FOIA requests? If so, why? How does one actually go about using email to make a Privacy Act request? How does the FBI quantify the request is legit (I thought a certified letter was required for purposes of establishing bona fides of a requestor, for example when requesting a search for records for oneself)?

[Phil Lapsley]

Herr Doktor Professor: Thanks for your comments. The FBI has accepted FOIA requests via fax or email for some time, see http://foia.fbi.gov/foia_instruc.htm. I have more expertise in FOIA than Privacy Act, but my reading of the Privacy Act is that they key requirement for a PA request is that it be "written", see http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode05/usc_sec_05_00000552---a000-.html. It is then up to each agency to publish regulations governing the specifics of how they implement/interpret the Privacy Act. In the past I believe the FBI has indeed required a certified snail mail letter for PA requests, but apparently they have now changed that. At least, so Mr. Sobonya tells me; an updated policy is not yet posted on their official web site, nor (as far as I am aware) in the Federal Register.