{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "A New Look at the Freedom of Information Act |Digital.gov",
    "description": "A New Look at the Freedom of Information Act",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/09/08/a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"A New Look at the Freedom of Information Act","summary" : "There are many ways the public can get information from the federal government. For example, you can check out Data.gov to find scores of datasets and APIs, agency websites for information about their work, or other important information in online FOIA Libraries. Or you can also just ask for it. Since 1966, the Freedom of","date" : "2014-09-08T10:00:46-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jackie-kazil" : "Jackie Kazil","shashank-khandelwal" : "Shashank Khandelwal","raphael-majma" : "Raphael Majma","eric-mill" : "Eric Mill","victor-diaz-zapanta" : "Victor Diaz Zapanta"},"topics" : {
        
            "open-government" : "Open government",
            "software-engineering" : "Software engineering"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2014-09-08-a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2014/09/2014-09-08-a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2014/09/2014-09-08-a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2014/09/2014-09-08-a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act.md","slug" : "a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/09/08/a-new-look-at-the-freedom-of-information-act/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eThere are many ways the public can get information from the federal government. For example, you can check out Data.gov to find scores of datasets and APIs, agency websites for information about their work, or other important information in online FOIA Libraries.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOr you can also just ask for it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince 1966, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.foia.gov/about.html\"\u003eFreedom of Information Act\u003c/a\u003e, FOIA, has granted the public the right to access information from the federal government. This public right has been maintained for decades and has served as the backbone for information disclosures. This has led to the publication of many important news stories and greater public awareness around government activities.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs demand for information continues to grow, it is important to continue iterating the ways we refine the FOIA request process. Our effort is one of a number of \u003ca href=\"http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/us_national_action_plan_6p.pdf\"\u003ecommitments\u003c/a\u003e towards creating a more open, transparent government. We will explore how to supplement the work that has already been done by creating tools to improve the online FOIA requests process by designing for the user.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2014/09/18f-blog-optimized-Freedom-of-Information-Act-FOIA-site-on-mobile-phone-tumblr%5c_inline%5c_nbchu3jVlB1salf0l.jpg\"\n    alt=\"An illustrative prototype running on a mobile device (the logo in the photo is not a live URL)\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe are exploring building tools that:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eimprove the FOIA request submission experience;\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ecreate a scalable infrastructure for making requests to federal agencies; and\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003emake it easier for requesters to find records and other information that have already been made available online.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis effort will be conducted with the assistance of a number of agencies and offices within the federal government. A FOIA Task Force, which consists of representatives from the Department of Justice, Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and others, has been created to oversee the creation of these open source software resources.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo reach our goals, the FOIA team at 18F has been meeting with stakeholders, both inside and outside the government, to discuss some of the practical obstacles impeding the current FOIA experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs we continue, we look forward to informing you of what we learned, but more importantly we look forward to informing you of what we’re building. We currently have a prototype available of what a \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/18F/foia-design/pull/40\"\u003econsolidated request submission hub\u003c/a\u003e could look like. Please follow along at our main \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/18F/foia\"\u003eFOIA repo\u003c/a\u003e, give us feedback or \u003ca href=\"http://18fblog.tumblr.com/post/94543290971/the-contributors-guide-to-18f-code-for-the-common\"\u003econtribute\u003c/a\u003e, and look for more updates in the future.\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on the \u003ca href=\"http://18fblog.tumblr.com/\"\u003e18f blog\u003c/a\u003e by Jackie Kazil, Shashank Khandelwal, Raphael Majma, Eric Mill, and Victor Diaz Zapanta of \u003ca href=\"https://18f.gsa.gov/\"\u003e18f\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}