[Infowarrior] - Search Tool for Uncovered Government Documents

[Richard Forno]

March 16th, 2009
EFF Launches Search Tool for Uncovered Government Documents

http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/03/16

New Search Engine Highlights EFF's Transparency Efforts During  
Sunshine Week

San Francisco - In celebration of Sunshine Week, the Electronic  
Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched a sophisticated search tool  
that allows the public to closely examine thousands of pages of  
documents the organization has pried loose from secretive government  
agencies. The documents relate to a wide range of cutting-edge  
technology issues and government policies that affect civil liberties  
and personal privacy.

EFF's document collection -- obtained through requests and litigation  
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) -- casts light on several  
controversial government initiatives, including the FBI's  
Investigative Data Warehouse and DCS 3000 surveillance program, and  
the Department of Homeland Security's Automated Targeting System and  
ADVISE data-mining project. The documents also provide details on  
Justice Department collection of communications routing data, Pentagon  
monitoring of soldiers' blogs, mismatches in the Terrorist Screening  
Center's watchlist, and FBI misuse of its national security letter  
subpoena authority.

The new search capability enables visitors to EFF's website to conduct  
keyword searches across the universe of government documents obtained  
by EFF, maximizing the value of the material.

"Until recently, documents obtained under FOIA often gathered dust in  
filing cabinets," said David Sobel, EFF Senior Counsel and director of  
the organization's FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government (FLAG)  
Project. "We believe that government information should be widely  
available and easy to research, and our new search engine makes that a  
reality."

EFF is launching the tool during national Sunshine Week, an annual,  
non-partisan event that promotes government transparency. The  
celebration is particularly significant this year, because it comes  
after eight years of a presidential administration that was widely  
criticized for its secrecy and two months into a new administration  
that has promised "unprecedented" openness.

"We welcomed President Obama's declaration -- on his first full day in  
office -- that he will work to make the federal government more open  
and participatory," EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann said. "There's  
certainly a lot of work to do -- so much government activity has been  
hidden from public view in the name of 'national security' and the  
'war on terror.'"

For the new FOIA document search tool:
http://www.eff.org/issues/foia/search

For more on EFF's FLAG Project:
http://www.eff.org/issues/foia

Contacts:

Marcia Hofmann
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
marcia at eff.org

David Sobel
Senior Counsel
Electronic Frontier Foundation
sobel at eff.org