By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI launched a new online tool for Freedom of Information Act requests, but critics argue the disclosure requests have been made more difficult, Fed Scoop reports.
At issue are new conditions for requesting records, which include submitting a copy of a government-issued photo ID.
When the FBI launched their new eFOIA platform Monday, the bureau said the process of obtaining records would be streamlined.
Fed Scoop wrote:
However, listed in the terms are some new stipulations that have government transparency groups crying foul. For the FBI to consider a request, a photo of a government-issued ID has to be included with the request so that, according to the bureau, the FBI can be “confident in the identity of the requester.”
The bureau “just made that [requirement] up out of thin air,” Steven Aftergood, the director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, told FedScoop. “The new FBI terms of service exceed what the law requires and allows.”
The ID requirement goes well beyond the directions listed in the Justice Department’s FOIA guide. That guide, even for filings that require a confirmation of identity — such as a request for the requestor’s own FBI file — states that a notarized declaration by the requestor is sufficient.
“The FOIA itself makes clear that it can be used by ‘any person’ who invokes its provisions,” Aftergood said. “One doesn’t even need to be a U.S. citizen. So there is no basis for the FBI to require a government-issued ID.”
