Hacking Into The FOIA Process

An annual gathering of hackers in New York City last week featured a presentation on how to successfully break into government files using Freedom of Information Act requests.

At the HOPE conference -- acronym stands for Hackers on Planet Earth -- an attorney and expert on phone cracking, told the story of an organization, GovernmentAttic.org, that since 2007 has filed more than 1,000 FOIA requests. Both speakers are habitual filers, as well.

The slides shown by lawyer Michael Ravnitzky and researcher Phil Lapsley provide quick, easy steps anyone can take to satisfy curiosity about the government's doings on intranets, internal databases and even in the real world.

Case studies include --

• Minutes, agendas and decisions of the DOD Resale Activities Board of Review, a congressionally-established entity that determines what sexually explicit magazines and videos can be sold or rented on military bases.
• FEMA's Remedial Action Management Program database, a collection of lessons learned from successful and failed missions, including the Space Shuttle Challenger accident.