{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
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    "title" : "Once Upon a FOIA Request: How You Can Open Public Records |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Once Upon a FOIA Request: How You Can Open Public Records",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/12/18/once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Once Upon a FOIA Request: How You Can Open Public Records","summary" : "Like many of you, we watched with great interest this week when a citizen submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asking them to release to the public Wu-Tang Clan’s album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. While official sources explain that the desired outcome is not possible","date" : "2015-12-18T03:14:27-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jherman" : "Justin Herman","meredith-stewart" : "Meredith Stewart"},"topics" : {
        
            "open-government" : "Open government",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management",
            "social-media" : "Social media"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-12-18-once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/12/2015-12-18-once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/12/2015-12-18-once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/12/2015-12-18-once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records.md","slug" : "once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/12/18/once-upon-a-foia-request-how-you-can-open-public-records/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eLike many of you, we watched with great interest this week when a citizen \u003ca href=\"http://boingboing.net/2015/12/17/best-foia-ever-asking-fbi-to.html\"\u003esubmitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request\u003c/a\u003e to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asking them to release to the public Wu-Tang Clan’s album, Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile official sources explain that the desired outcome is not possible at this time…\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/newyorkfbi/status/677597263540191232\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/12/506-x-311-FBI-NY-PharmaBro-Martin-Shkreli-arrest-WuTang-Clan-tweet-Dec-17th-2015.jpg\"\n    alt=\"FBI NY\u0026#39;s tweet on the arrest of Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli and Wu-Tang Clan album December 17th 2015\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e…in light of this creative effort, let’s discuss how you too can use FOIA and other \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/29/empowering-the-voice-of-citizens-at-core-of-gsa-open-government/\"\u003eOpen Government programs\u003c/a\u003e to build a better tomorrow.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-is-foia\"\u003eWhat is FOIA?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ca href=\"http://www.foia.gov/\"\u003eFreedom of Information Act\u003c/a\u003e is a law that gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince 1967, the public has been able to make FOIA requests to any federal agency. More than \u003ca href=\"http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/oip/pages/attachments/2015/05/01/fy_2014_annual_report_summary.pdf\"\u003e700,000 requests\u003c/a\u003e were received by federal agencies in Fiscal Year 2014 alone.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo when there was speculation that the FBI may have acquired the album as part of an investigation, one strategy to make the album available to the public—since its purchaser agreed to not release it for 88 years—was to open a FOIA request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"how-can-i-use-foia\"\u003eHow can I use FOIA?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the numbers show FOIA is well-used, often by journalists and researchers, many in the public are not aware of how to use it themselves.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.foia.gov/index.html\"\u003eFOIA.gov\u003c/a\u003e provides an overview of where and how to make a request to federal agencies. There is no central FOIA office that handles all of the requests; each agency responds for its own records, so you need to know which agency has the records you are seeking. You should always first check to see if the information you are requesting is already publicly available.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you encounter issues with your request, \u003ca href=\"https://ogis.archives.gov/\"\u003ethe Office of Government Information Services\u003c/a\u003e is a resource for when you need help resolving FOIA disputes with agencies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"whats-next-for-foia-hahahugoshortcode2737s2hbhb\"\u003eWhat’s next for FOIA? \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/12/600-x-400-Opening-ceremony-eskaylim-iStock-Thinkstock-186002257.jpg\"\n    alt=\"A pair of scissors cutting through red tape, symbolizing a reduction of bureaucratic obstacles.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCitizens should not have to go through 36 chambers of bureaucracy in order to access data and public records.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile federal agencies have been working at responding to FOIA requests for nearly 50 years, challenges—especially large backlogs —remain. The U.S. government committed to improving its implementation of FOIA in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/10/27/advancing-open-and-citizen-centered-government\"\u003ethird U.S. National Action Plan for Open Government\u003c/a\u003e (NAP), including goals for:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\"\u003e\n  Expanding the Services Offered on FOIA.gov\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\"\u003e\n  Improving Agency Proactive Disclosures by Posting FOIA-Released Records Online\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\"\u003e\n  Improving Agency FOIA Websites\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli style=\"font-weight: 400\"\u003e\n  Increasing Understanding of FOIA… (potentially this includes opportunities to reach new communities not already familiar with the process through creative real-world examples.)\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo where does this leave the FOIA request for Once Upon a Time in Shaolin?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSince the album in question is not a public record available for release, for now you will likely have to stick with listening to the new Star Wars soundtrack.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}