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May 4, 2015

FOIA and 5,000 Blank Pages

Filed under: Government,Politics,Security — Patrick Durusau @ 2:53 pm

FBI replies to Stingray Freedom of Information request with 5,000 blank pages by Cory Doctorow.

Cory has a great post on FBI stonewalling on information about “Stingrays,” devices that act as cell phone towers to gather information from cell phone users.

The FBI response illustrates the issue I raised in Debating Public Policy, On The Basis of Fictions, which was:

To hold government accountable, its citizens need to know what government has been doing, to whom and why.

There is no place in the Constitution that says citizens are entitled only to some information, to a little information, to the information the executive branch decides to share (or the legislative branch for that matter), etc.

Every blank page in that FOIA answer diminishes your right as a citizen to control your government. That’s the part the FBI keeps overlooking. It’s not their government, it not the government of the NSA, it is the government of every voting citizen.

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