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Only now in 2015 the FBI fullfills FOIA requests electronically? That is incredible backward. I thought the Department of Interior was bad because they couldn't

Only now in 2015 the FBI fullfills FOIA requests electronically? That is incredible backward. I thought the Department of Interior was bad because they couldn't do global email searches on even global searches within a specific Bureau, but Interior is light years ahead of the FBI.

morisy 11y ago
You've been able to submit requests electronically (via email) for years. For releases that are of major popular interest, they post the results in their reading room: vault.fbi.gov But yes, they typically respond via mail, although over the past five years usually with CDs if it's more than a few pages.
jedberg 11y ago
If you're the FBI, what motivation do you have to implement the system? No one ever use an FOIA request to get info about something good to praise them. It's always to get info to smear them. Why would they want to make this easier?
- scrollaway 11y ago
  Honestly, all branches of the public sector should strive for maximum transparency. I understand why you're asking this question, but in a truly transparent system, if someone is trying to smear a branch doing a good job, there is plenty of ammunition to demonstrate the opposite. Incidentally this is why I'm a huge believer in open management models. They work great in FOSS. Being scrutinized by outsiders forces you to think more carefully about what you do. Within a company, employees are generally disincentivized from giving negative feedback and often don't have the full picture to judge with anyway. Outsiders don't have that problem.
- ant6n 11y ago
  Believing in this kind of argument is accepting corruption. It's kind of like saying "why should the parties in power fix the electoral system if they benefit from it".
  - x1798DE 11y ago
    I don't think the point of the argument is that it's a good state of affairs. The point is the incentives are wrong, so obviously this will happen. Hoping the FBI's heart grows the sizes won't get you anywhere.
- maxlybbert 11y ago
  Even assuming that the people at the FBI are altruistic and don't care about whether FOIA requests will be used to smear them, I don't see what incentive they have to make the process easier for people making requests. Once they've complied with what they're legally required to do, other things will get attention in the budget.
- apaprocki 11y ago
  As a counterexample, the FBI FOIA process is what allowed me to get the only surviving transcription of my grandfather's own words (He died before I was born). I'm incredibly grateful that we live in a system that lets people mine this information for their own reasons. It has been a treasure trove of information for me personally and the staff never hassled me. That goes as well for the NARA archive staff. If anyone on the FOIA team reads this, thank you.

morisy 11y ago

You've been able to submit requests electronically (via email) for years. For releases that are of major popular interest, they post the results in their reading room: vault.fbi.gov But yes, they typically respond via mail, although over the past five years usually with CDs if it's more than a few pages.

jedberg 11y ago

If you're the FBI, what motivation do you have to implement the system? No one ever use an FOIA request to get info about something good to praise them. It's always to get info to smear them. Why would they want to make this easier?

scrollaway 11y ago
Honestly, all branches of the public sector should strive for maximum transparency. I understand why you're asking this question, but in a truly transparent system, if someone is trying to smear a branch doing a good job, there is plenty of ammunition to demonstrate the opposite. Incidentally this is why I'm a huge believer in open management models. They work great in FOSS. Being scrutinized by outsiders forces you to think more carefully about what you do. Within a company, employees are generally disincentivized from giving negative feedback and often don't have the full picture to judge with anyway. Outsiders don't have that problem.
ant6n 11y ago
Believing in this kind of argument is accepting corruption. It's kind of like saying "why should the parties in power fix the electoral system if they benefit from it".
- x1798DE 11y ago
  I don't think the point of the argument is that it's a good state of affairs. The point is the incentives are wrong, so obviously this will happen. Hoping the FBI's heart grows the sizes won't get you anywhere.
maxlybbert 11y ago
Even assuming that the people at the FBI are altruistic and don't care about whether FOIA requests will be used to smear them, I don't see what incentive they have to make the process easier for people making requests. Once they've complied with what they're legally required to do, other things will get attention in the budget.
apaprocki 11y ago
As a counterexample, the FBI FOIA process is what allowed me to get the only surviving transcription of my grandfather's own words (He died before I was born). I'm incredibly grateful that we live in a system that lets people mine this information for their own reasons. It has been a treasure trove of information for me personally and the staff never hassled me. That goes as well for the NARA archive staff. If anyone on the FOIA team reads this, thank you.