I'll never get tired of quoting the geographer Trevor Paglen: "One of the contradictory things about the United States is that an incredible amount of the government is dedicated to doing things in secret.
asserted
amount → get → secret
America is one of the best places to be a national security journalist, because there's both a bloated surveillance state and a legal right to pick at its secrets.
asserted
America → be → secrets
In a recent article about being detained at the border, I mentioned that I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to find out what files the agency had on me.
asserted
agency → detain → me
"However long it takes for CBP to respond, and however heavily they redact the documents, I'm legally entitled to a response.
asserted
I → take → response
And so are you," I wrote.
asserted
I → write → ?
Some readers reached out asking exactly how they could do the same.
uncertain
they → reach → same
So here's a guide that I've written for your benefit.
asserted
I → write → benefit
FOIA is a powerful tool, but it requires knowing exactly how to use it.
asserted
it → require → it
Requesters can't force the government to create new documents, only to hand over documents it already has.
asserted
it → force → documents
A request has to be directed at the right agency and include specific enough instructions for its archivists to find the records in question.
asserted
archivists → have → question
The guy who famously asked the National Security Agency (NSA) for "everything you've got" did not, in fact, get everything it's got.
asserted
it → ask → everything
Requesting your own file both makes the matter simpler and more complicated.
asserted
matter → request → file
On one hand, it significantly narrows down the types of records requested and the agency to request them from.
asserted
it → narrow → them
On the other hand, FOIA requests for personal information on living human beings overlap with the Privacy Act and require the consent of the subject.
asserted
requests → live → subject
And unlike regular FOIA requests—which anyone can file, no questions asked—FOIA/Privacy Act requests can only be filed by U.S. citizens or green card holders.
asserted
requests → file → citizens
The FBI, which receives reams of these requests, makes the process quite simple.
asserted
process → receive → requests
The bureau has a handy online portal that allows Americans to put in their personal information for a FOIA request and electronically sign a statement that they are the person requesting it.
asserted
they → have → it
For those who prefer to send a request through snail mail, the FBI also provides a form letter and a printable standard consent form.
asserted
FBI → prefer → letter
The bureau tends to say up front when it doesn't have files on you.
asserted
it → tend → you
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has many different subcomponents for you to direct your request to.
asserted
you → have → request
The DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, its main spy agency, tends to "neither confirm nor deny" that it has records on any specific individual.
asserted
it → tend → individual
CBP, the DHS agency that Americans are most likely to interact with, is a little more forthcoming.
asserted
Americans → interact → that
CBP, unlike the FBI, doesn't include a ready-made form letter for requesting records on a person.
asserted
CBP → include → person
Some people have had success with simple one-line requests: "All records of border crossing, secondary screening, and interactions with CBP with" a specific person.
asserted
people → have → person
For my own request, I wrote a long letter listing known CBP watch lists and databases, just to make sure.
asserted
I → write → lists
CBP and other DHS agencies accept requests through the online Secure Release platform.
asserted
CBP → accept → platform
Although filing a FOIA request is free, agencies may or may not charge a fee for photocopying documents, and requesters have to indicate up front how much they are willing to pay.
uncertain
they → file → much
Requesters also have an option to request fee waivers and expedited processing.
asserted
Requesters → have → waivers
Expedited processing is usually for life-and-death situations, and requesting it can ironically slow down the process, because agencies will take their time answering the request for expedited processing before moving on to the request itself.
asserted
agencies → request → request
FOIA allows agencies to withhold information under nine exemptions, which the FOIA nonprofit MuckRock outlined in a handy guide.
asserted
nonprofit → allow → guide
Frustratingly, the government can also refuse to confirm or deny that a document exists in the first place, a tactic known as the Glomar exemption, named after a FOIA lawsuit about the spy ship Glomar Explorer.
asserted
document → refuse → ship
Along with the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis, the CIA and NSA tend to give Glomar responses to requests for individuals' files.
asserted
CIA → tend → files
FOIA gives requesters an opportunity to file an administrative appeal to these denials and to sue in court if the appeal isn't satisfactory.
asserted
appeal → give → court
The same FOIA techniques can work on any three-letter (or longer) agency you can think of, with some light changes in language to target the specific kinds of records that these agencies hold.
asserted
agencies → work → that
And although you can't request the records of other living people without their consent, the dead don't have such privacy protections in the eyes of the law, so long as you can provide proof of death.
asserted
you → request → death
Some of my best scoops have been from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) files on famous immigrants who have passed away.
asserted
who → pass → immigrants
Finally, all 50 states have their own public records laws modeled on FOIA, with slightly different rules for each.
asserted
states → have → each
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publishes a state-by-state guide to these laws, and MuckRock offers a paid service for filing and managing records requests across jurisdictions.
asserted
MuckRock → publish → jurisdictions
Asking for your own file is a great, low-stakes exercise in keeping the government honest.
asserted
Asking → ask → government
Whether you have a clean record or an impressive rap sheet, you'll get familiar with your rights on paper and the mechanisms for demanding those rights.
asserted
you → have → rights
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
