FBI will revert to using fax machines, snail mail for FOIA requests

[Jimbo101]

DailyDot



The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will implement a new policy next month likely to further frustrate people seeking public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

At the beginning of March, the FBI will no longer accept FOIA requests via email. Instead, requesters will have to rely on fax machines and standard mail (“snail mail”) in order to communicate with the agency’s records management division. The agency will also accept a fraction of requests through an online portal, provided users agree to a terms-of-service agreement and are willing to provide the FBI with personal information, including a phone number and physical address.

The new procedure mirrors that of other agencies that intentionally rely on archaic technologies to process public records requests. The Central Intelligence Agency, for instance, only accepts such requests by fax, while the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which researches advanced technologies on behalf of the Pentagon, also ditched email a few years ago in favor of old-school fax machines. The FBI’s records division has also been known to use computers from the 1980s specifically to create technological roadblocks.

“It’s a huge step backwards for the FBI to switch from a proven, ubiquitous, user-friendly technology like email to a portal that has consistently shown problems, ranging from restricting how often citizens can access their right to government oversight to legitimate privacy concerns,” says Michael Morisy, co-founder of MuckRock, a nonprofit that has helped people file over 28,271 public records requests at more than 6,690 state, federal, and local agencies.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Makes sense, they need to keep the information from us, otherwise we might

actually want to know why the Russians decided our election, and silly little shit like that.

[HopeAgain]

2. Hey they need the ability to deny they ever received them.

Makes sense to me...

[KittyWampus]

5. If you send it registered mail you have proof they got it.

[logosoco]

3. This seems quite fitting for the direction we are heading. nt

[democratisphere]

4. Rebirth of the Pony Express will be coming soon.

I've always wondered what it would be like to live in the 19th Century; looks like we may find out!

[n2doc]

6. What? No Carrier Pigeon Option?

What's the world coming to?

[Lee-Lee]

7. Thankfully fax from phone apps make it easy

I deal with some agencies that refuse to use email for official matters because of privacy concerns, and I end up using an app on my work issued phone and tablet for all of it instead- so all that info still ends up in the cloud.

[dalton99a]

8. +1