Drones and Public Recordswhat to look for / how to get it

MuckRock

FOIA- Enacted July 4, 1966 by LBJ- Everything that isn't exempted is open, but...- Privacy, secrecy exemptions- White House and Congress are exempt

ExemptionsPrivacy ActNational securityStatutory exemptions

Jenny Holzer, Redaction Paintings

RedactionsSecretive agencies are usually secretive. Redactions are common in most documents from the Department of Defense and CIA, if they give anything at all

FOIA is not optional- Agencies have 20 business days to reply.- They’re able to charge for search fees and duplication unless they miss that 20 day window without prior warning.

What about state laws?

- They are mostly in line with the Freedom of Information Act- Generally more expensive, quicker- Applies to all localities within state

What does this mean for drone research?

Documents available range from Federal Aviation Administration drone usage authorizations all the way down to local sheriff department budgets.

MuckRock- Until very recently, the government did not even pretend to care about using the power of the Web to give access to information.- FOIA is the law, and agencies' responsiveness was not trackable.- We're here to help everyone get access to FOIA and hold government accountable

Tracking progress

- Acknowledgment letter usually followed by fee estimate or request for clarification- Process can take from one day to years- Each jurisdiction/agency is trackable

One day's mail

Results

-Download from our site, share- MuckRock hosts thousands of pages of government documents

Drones and FOIA

There are (basically) two angles to FOIA'ing drone usage:

-Domestic usage-Foreign usage

Census

- MuckRock has filed 204 requests to federal, state and local government agencies about their use or proposed use of drones.

- 70 came from an authorized agency list EFF received from the FAA. - 134 leads came from MuckRock users.

The request

We asked for:

- Proposals put forward involving drones

- Any records concerning the use of drones

- Policies, guidelines, manuals about use of drones and images taken from them

- Technical capabilities of drones in use

What we've received

Of the 204 requests:

- 67 are awaiting response- 85 agencies said they have no responsive documents - 20 have sent responsive documents

Where there's trouble

-10 agencies rejected the request on a variety of grounds

- 11 require payment, ranging from $115,000.00 requested by Georgia Tech to Nicholls State University wanting $13.

-Negotiation is possible (narrowing request, digital copies)

Drones abroad

- Secrecy dominates - Direct acknowledgment would be a huge step forward- FOIA is an opportunity to call attention to the secrecy

FOIA for Civilian Deaths

"Any documents estimating the number of civilians killed by unarmed aerial vehicle (UAV), unarmed aerial system (UAS), or drone strikes in Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, the Philippines, or any other country where the United States

has carried out strikes of this kind."

So far:

CIA: Will neither confirm nor deny having the information.

State Department: Waiting

CentCom: Waiting

I want to file a request about drone use

- What is the most local agency somehow connected to the request?(A drone manufacturer wants to take over an old airfield. They may need to work it out with Town Hall -- public documents)

- Check available databases: FAA authorizations being the most important, EFF, Document Cloud, MuckRock

FOIA and Advocacy

- Appeal exemptions- Publicize government stonewalling- Lobby lawmakers for less restrictive FOIA law- There are groups who can help: NFOIC

More about MuckRock

- Will launch in all 50 states (plus DC) by January- Five requests cost $20-Except for our Drone Census, which is free

Twitter: @MuckRockNews