From Courthouse News Service: A federal judge may shine a light on foreign dictatorships that have imported illegal surveillance and jamming technology from the United States.
Events from the so-called Arab Spring show that Middle Eastern dictators have used Western technology to quash uprisings, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital watchdog group, has said.
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Read More… from FOIA requests may illustrate foreign despots’ access to U.S. surveillance devices
From Thomas Clayburn, editor-at-large, Information Week:
In June 2007, I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to learn more about the basis for Google's complaint that Microsoft's implementation of desktop search in Windows Vista violated the terms of its 2002 antitrust consent agreement.
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From PCWorld:
A privacy watchdog has filed a lawsuit contending the Federal Bureau of Investigation has failed to provide requested technical information about a biometric identification database expected to be the largest in the world.
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Read More… from EPIC presses FBI in lawsuit for details on biometric database
From Politico:
A federal appeals court issued a major ruling Tuesday preserving the rights of Freedom of Information Act requesters to proceed to court quickly when agencies don't comply with the legally required timelines to respond to demands for government records.
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Read More… from FOIA requesters score major win over Obama Administration
From The Palm Beach Post:
WEST PALM BEACH — One of the largest public records requests in Florida history has been unleashed on the state attorney’s offices in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.
Making the requests is a company headed by Marty O’Boyle, the millionaire real estate developer who helped — and then opposed — Dave Aronberg on his path to state attorney last year.
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Read More… from Palm Beach County millionaire tests records law in daughter’s DUI case
From OpenTheGovernment.org:
Anyone walking out of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Sunshine Week celebration on March 11 with no previous exposure to the FOIA system would have thought the process is working better for requesters than ever. Records are released 94% of the time; backlogs are down; agencies are using technology to help them process requests faster. These happy stories do not represent the reality for many requesters, however.
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Read More… from FOIA is looking great — through DOJ’s rose-colored glasses
