Exposing Controversial Government Actions
To hold government accountable, the public must stay informed of the activities of their government. The Electronic Privacy Information Center effectively uses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to inform the public of excessive government secrecy in using the USA PATRIOT Act, government surveillance of individuals, and more. EPIC has compiled a handy list of the most interesting revelations.From the Electronic Privacy information Center EPIC Alert 11.06 (March 24, 2004):
"... EPIC launched its Freedom of Information Act Gallery 2004 in recognition of Freedom of Information Day. The Gallery includes some of the most significant records obtained in the past year by EPIC through the FOIA, including documents showing that Northwest Airlines handed over millions of passenger records to NASA; U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay used the Federal Aviation Administration to track Texas state legislators; the Department of Justice resisted disclosing basic, statistical information about its use of USA PATRIOT Act powers; and consumer complaints about credit reporting agencies increased dramatically in recent years."
EPIC's
Freedom of Information Act Gallery 2004 is at www.epic.org/open_gov/foiagallery.html.