Inquiry re. how to handle Glomar reply to FOIA request
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hello, A while back (specifically, on 6/01/2015) I sent in a FOIA request to the NSA, requesting, in part, records about myself that "would have been collected by the NSA under programs authorized by Sections 206 and 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, and Section 6001(a) of the IRTPA, aforementioned programs and sections which are now expired as of the date of this request (June 1, 2015)." In essence, I figured, since the underlying legal authority for the program had lapsed (however briefly), there was no time like that present moment to file a FOIA request. And so, I did, not using USPS mail, but a digital service to ensure it would arrive timely. My request was actually rather lengthy; that was just a small part, and I requested any NSA records collected on my person as a result of use of Sections 206 or 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, or Section 6001(a) of the IRTPA, from Oct. 26, 2001 to the date of expiration and sunset of those Sections on midnight May 31st 2015. (For those who are trying to remember the timeline of what ended up replacing all that, the USA Freedom Act was signed into law on June 2, 2015.) ~~ The NSA failed to respond within the 20 business days required by federal law and sent back a "Glomar response." Technically, as of today, I only have 49 days left to write and send an appeal (based on the date when they sent me their Glomar reply). So... if you have ever done a SUCCESSful appeal of a Glomar response, please reply back to me and let me know (give me some advice, etc). Thanks in advance. I've copied a portion of the letter they sent below: "As you may also be aware, there has been considerable coverage of two NSA intelligence programs in the press /media. Under Sec. 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, as authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court NSA may acquire telephone metadata, such as the telephone numbers dialed and length of calls, but not the content of calls or the names of the communicants. Under Sec. 702 of the FISA, with appropriate authorization, NSA may target non-US. persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States for foreign intelligence purposes. Under the FISC-authorized Sec. 215 authority, NSA cannot review any metadata unless strict requirements are met, the data may be queried only when there is a reasonable suspicion, based on speci?c facts, that a phone number is associated with a foreign terrorist organization. Likewise, under Sec. 702, there are strict controls approved by the FISC to help ensure that no US. person is targeted and FISC-approved minimizations procedures to ensure the protection of any information concerning U.S. persons that may be incidentally acquire d. Although these two programs have been publicly acknowledged, details about them remain classified and /or protected from release by statutes to prevent harm to the national security of the United States. To the extent that your request seeks any information on you in relation to NSA intelligence programs, or in relation to any specific methods or means for conducting the programs, we cannot acknowledge the existence or non-existence of such information. Any positive or negative response on a request-by-request basis would allow our adversaries to accumulate information and draw conclusions about technical capabilities, sources, and methods. Our adversaries are likely to evaluate all public responses related to these programs. Were we to provide positive or negative responses to requests such as yours, our adversaries compilation of the information provided would reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. Therefore, your request is denied because the fact of the existence or non-existence of responsive records is a currently and properly classified matter in accordance with Executive Order 13526, as set forth in Subparagraph of Section 1.4. Thus, your request is denied pursuant to the first exemption of the FOIA, which provides that the FOIA does not apply to matters that are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign relations and are properly classified pursuant to such Executive Order. Moreover, the third exemption of the FOIA provides for the withholding of information specifically protected from disclosure by statute. Thus, your request is also denied because the fact of the existence or non-existence of the information is exempted from disclosure pursuant to the third exemption. The specific statutes applicable in this case are: Title 18 US. Code 798; Title 50 US. Code 3024(i); and Section 6, Public Law 86?36 (50 US. Code 3605). (....) Paragraph 3.6(a) of Executive Order 13526 specifically authorizes this type of response, also known as a Glomar response, to a request made under the FOIA, PA, or the mandatory review provisions of this Order. The statutes cited above under the third exemption of the FOIA would also apply to the denial of the fact of the existence or non-existence of the information if sought under the PA. The Initial Denial Authority for NSA information is the Associate Director for Policy and Records, David J. Sherman. As your request is being denied, you are hereby advised of this Agency's appeal procedures. Any person denied access to information may file an appeal to the CSS Freedom of Information Act/ Privacy Act Appeal Authority. The appeal must be postmarked no later than 60 calendar days of the date of the initial denial letter. The appeal shall be in writing addressed to the (...) - -- http://abis.io ~ "a protocol concept to enable decentralization and expansion of a giving economy, and a new social good" https://keybase.io/odinn -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1 iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJVnIYlAAoJEGxwq/inSG8CQQQH/iLwr11gjbrHrAWaeiJ3Qllr zH+cNwUMLciht/2RhSaY/D5bNYczTUTyBUlKA4I4mhMYBjQPhBgHDI/E1QY0swJG CLLvDPkXunLg++lri5lnvlI+jSTakBIFyRdBsP8CcoHSpNOJhEtThqlsAoRog/Br 7CPIAF2t6XCESiSILAhmo791U5w1m2OmWCqO92JLjee6LP/2QK7QkYRvuJ9TzSnA B3aMY8pCDdjweJAueKq24ONL7lZuXZ38mZVjFPnUJsUCVQ7qlzjC5WAlB+So0lXu ifJTOP46CH4xV4YuObMb7Xi++O9fQSsM1ApM49uN9GIiHbXnjGm1NVzXfelZ0mc= =JyE1 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
On 7/7/15, odinn <odinn.cyberguerrilla@riseup.net> wrote:
... The NSA failed to respond within the 20 business days required by federal law and sent back a "Glomar response." Technically, as of today, I only have 49 days left to write and send an appeal (based on the date when they sent me their Glomar reply).
this is par for the FOIA course, of course.
if you have ever done a SUCCESSful appeal of a Glomar response, please reply back to me and let me know (give me some advice, etc). Thanks in advance.
two things: 1) there is a list, FOI-L@listserv.syr.edu where this might find more useful responses. 2) muckrock.com - they handle re-submission to follow up on late responses, and it's all automagic.
I've copied a portion of the letter they sent below:
"As you may also be aware, ...
this is waaaay too wordy. one thing i've learned, is to keep any request as short, and laser guided as possible. some agencies will find whatever excuse they can to deny a request, and if one element of your query falls into the deny bin they'll send the whole thing back or deny outright as "unreasonable". good luck!
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 On 07/08/2015 12:50 AM, coderman wrote:
this is waaaay too wordy. one thing i've learned, is to keep any request as short, and laser guided as possible. some agencies will find whatever excuse they can to deny a request, and if one element of
The FBI and the Air Force have been known to tack on additional keywords with Boolean ANDs to FOIA requests specifically to make them so narrow that they won't match. Typically, overbroad requests will get kicked back as being such and you'll have to refile with more specific search terms.
your query falls into the deny bin they'll send the whole thing back or deny outright as "unreasonable".
Yup. - -- The Doctor [412/724/301/703/415] [ZS] PGP: 0x807B17C1 / 7960 1CDC 85C9 0B63 8D9F DD89 3BD8 FF2B 807B 17C1 WWW: https://drwho.virtadpt.net/ "In a world with lots of shadows, the rats will do very well." --David Brin -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIcBAEBCgAGBQJVnV8+AAoJED1np1pUQ8RksJgP/jLFA5CWrWlL0CKB11lVlOOr wj6/wAm57Ojt6npL+YKRbVNMJ48kRofnc0Xk78QC4VV8CbqkhgJ/yr3I5/FABw0s imGXLbOYeW/gDE9uhCq3OYE5Htl8audrTYjFs1RWSKwhHN2EUJWejiKssmkrEZyT Mz+NOSL8aCwql5HjB1a1/yX7sV5AXjgLdD8Qtp/NUMRbkVNj1okPEqKqhdojl2xM rDatb8TdIKuhZYq6JYlXQsN/YHKHEE72iFxhvtmkTqH8ACNv/kKYFGxUYRGPNV+y qrEB51IEheW856GpfPGZIDoCx1qfs7GpogiTDmktcCv3Uqs3HxNXVVziEQpqO7x7 IDZXRoEYRejRx1GKanay0wcFuiNLXoMhD7vxeyczzOhRIZv8vuQsA6Q1kCkd0o/y qk+1dyuEaMvoLGgXkkO58PcIH6Y8hb+ci9WJRdHoMKas7rfh4ntNMgvjyzVhlhyf 24CTcniG+YmvHKBUGy0/z1bsRhSHwXE7kQSM4TPFmw3b1gvTiFCT96slj9wEGyRh Wla0OFzAbHi4JsHRdJwQ0ZSfhko/9p4SIcKDlH0HPblVOSJo9ck4pWckpgOTyqon Z8IcUnz30ZDTVwLzaVPN37VEEF8KA5W6eRAvI1ocbIH43ofDKIiYKn1t+RAgKqu1 jml/wyYIx6FyaTvvBj0W =dPyV -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (3)
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coderman
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odinn
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The Doctor