On June 30, 2016, President Obama signed the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, which once again sought to modernize the process of releasing information, reduce backlogs, and establish uniform points of contact to manage requests and the sometimes inevitable denials. While much of the document remained the same, the most significant changes demonstrate the complexities of public disclosure:
- Agencies must make documents and information available to requesters in electronic formats.
- Information requested and disclosed at least three times must be made publicly available in electronic format on an agency’s website.
- Agencies are not allowed to charge fees for services if they miss applicable deadlines.
- Agencies must disclose information unless disclosure might harm a protected interest, such as national security.
- Agencies can release requested records created at least 25 years prior to a release request.
- Requesters denied access can seek out “dispute resolution services from the FOIA Public Liaison of the agency or the Office of Government Information Services.”
- Expanded roles for Chief FOIA Officers at each agency and a new Chief FOIA Officers Counsel will increase compliance and efficiency.
- A new, consolidated online FOIA website portal will provide one contact point for all public FOIA requests to all federal agencies.
FOIA Today
Today, the Freedom of Information Act allows any person to request information from any federal agency for any reason. Whether you’re a U.S. citizen or a foreign national, a student or a university, a corporation or an organization – if an agency created or obtained a record and still retains possession of it, you can request it. In fact, in 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that neither the identity of a FOIA requester nor the “purposes for which the request for information is made" can be taken into consideration in determining what should be released under the Act; law denies FOIA access only to fugitives from justice and foreign governments.
Keep reading about FOIA and your right to know at: https://ammo.com/articles/right-to-know-a-historical-guide-to-foia