Circular Logic and "Hypothetical" Privacy Concerns

Roll Call had an interesting FOIA experience leading up to the big DC snowstorms. In a paralyzing blizzard of its own making, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection responded to Roll Call's request for passenger manifests for flights on government airplanes by responding that it couldn't release those names until Roll Call first got those people to sign a waiver allowing customs to release their names.

As Roll Call notes, "In other words, [Customs is saying] we are prohibited from telling you who those people are until you contact them and get them to authorize us to tell you who they are."

If that circular logic isn't enough, Customs also noted that its response was not a denial, but a notice of a deficient request, which cannot be appealed.

For more on the Air Force's response to a similar request, click here.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Lags Behind Technology

Click here for more on The Texas Tribune's difficulties in getting a FOIA request filed with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.   It seems the office won't accept requests electronically and by fax only in case of an "emergency," leaving open who says it's an emergency and what such an emergency is.  

ACLU seeks data on border laptop searches

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a FOIA request for records on laptops searched by border officials, PC Magazine reported. ACLU says these searching practices raise questions concerning First and Fourth Amendment rights because "they involve highly intrusive governmental probing into a traveler's most private information." Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is expected to release updated guidelines regarding these border laptop searches in the next few months.

How many laptops have border officials searched at U.S. borders? The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wants to know.

The group filed a freedom of information (FOIA) request with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Homeland Security Department requesting any and all records dating back to January 1, 2007.

"Disclosure of the requested information ... will further public understanding of the government's expansive exercise of search authority over all travelers, including U.S. citizens, passing through the country's international borders," the letter reads.

More here.