CIA Now Accepts Email FOIA Requests 6 February 2013

CIA Now Accepts Email FOIA Requests 6 February 2013
To: intelforum[at]lists101.his.com
Subject: CIA enters 21st Century on FOIA submissions
Apparently starting last Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, the CIA has begun accepting Freedom of Information Act requests via email.
Accessing the CIA's form for FOIA requests takes a bit of patience. The forms are located way inside the CIA website (www.cia.gov), inside the Library, Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room, and then third entry down (marked by dots) under the title
"What is electronic reading room?"
There is then a link to take you to the procedure format: FOIA requests can now be made online
The designer of this wounderous new procedure has also included one of those marvey captcha things - a puzzle that might drive you a bit nuts since it is verbal rather than a group of fancified letters you are supposed to view and type . . .
Good luck - but just think that this might actually save some time.... The big snafu that remains is that the CIA will only respond to FOIA requests using snailmail... Maybe they have an obligation to help the postal service stay in business.
Tom McNiff
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Filing a FOIA Records Request Online

This form allows you to forward Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests without attachments to CIA. Your request should be for information that is subject to FOIA and reasonably described, in accordance with the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552, as amended. Our Helpful Hints page provides further guidance on how best to formulate an effective FOIA request. If you are seeking records on yourself, please refer to our How to Submit a Privacy Act Request page for submission instructions and useful tips. We are not accepting Privacy Act requests filed using this online form.
We cannot process your request via this electronic form if you intend to include an attachment. FOIA submissions with attachments should be forwarded instead via the postal service, other commercial delivery means, or by facsimile. Our mailing address for FOIA requests is the following:
Central Intelligence Agency
Information and Privacy Coordinator
Washington, DC 20505
Facsimiles should be addressed to the attention of the Information and Privacy Coordinator and sent to (703) 613-3007.
This system only accepts FOIA submissions electronically; it is not designed to provide replies electronically. CIA replies to you will continue to be sent via the postal service. If you do not include a name and complete postal address, the CIA will be unable to respond. Correspondence will not be made by e-mail. Providing a phone number will allow us to reach you more quickly should we need to follow up on your FOIA request.
FOIA requests submitted outside of regular business hours will be examined on the next business day.
To check on the status of a pending FOIA request, contact the CIA at (703) 613-1287 or use the following postal address:
Central Intelligence Agency
Information and Privacy Coordinator
Washington, DC 20505
PLEASE NOTE: If you are a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident of the US seeking notification of whether the CIA maintains a record on you in any non-exempt system of records or non-exempt portion of a system of records, you may provide identifying information and current citizenship status and make a request under the Privacy Act for access to or amendment of all non-exempt records or portions of records. Identification requirements are set forth in CIAʼs published Privacy Act regulations at 32 CFR 1901.13.
EFFECT OF CERTAIN EXEMPTIONS: In processing a FOIA or Privacy Act request, the Agency shall decline to confirm or deny the existence or nonexistence of any responsive records whenever the fact of their existence or nonexistence is itself classified under Executive Order 13526 or revealing of intelligence sources and methods protected pursuant to section 103(c)(5) of the National Security Act of 1947 or Section 6 of the CIA Act of 1949. The Agency may also decline to confirm or deny records requested under the FOIA to prevent harm to an interest protected by a FOIA exemption if that the Agencyʼs acknowledgement of the existence of responsive records would, itself, harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption.
[link to www.foia.cia.gov]

FOIA Helpful Hints
The Kinds of Records Produced by the CIA
To better understand the information which is available, users should note that the CIA was organized pursuant to the National Security Act of 1947 and that its primary mission is the collection and analysis of foreign intelligence information for use by our nation's leadership; the CIA has no police, subpoena, law enforcement, or internal security functions.
Effective Requests on Individuals
When requesting records on an individual other than yourself (please see Privacy Act for obtaining information about yourself), you need to provide the following for us to conduct an effective search:
• Full name.
• Date and place of birth, nationality, and citizenship status.
• A signed notarized statement from the other individual authorizing release of personal information or evidence of death--such as a death certificate, obituary, or press statement.
Effective Requests in General
The CIA collects and produces a vast amount of material as a variety of offices collect and analyze foreign intelligence on foreign countries, regions, and international issues. To effectively search through decentralized, voluminous records indexed to a specific country, region, or broad issue of public interest, you must:
• Specify a particular subject or subjects.
• Provide a timeframe for your interest.
• Limit your request to finished intelligence, especially if you have a short deadline and seek the greatest release of information, if any exists.
Pitfalls
To avoid any unnecessary delays in processing because your request lacks the specificity required under the FOIA statutes, you must:
• Not fail to describe your records sufficiently to enable a professional employee familiar with the subject to locate the document without an unreasonable amount of effort--meaning the document must be locatable through indices to our various records.
• Not expect us do research or conduct unreasonable searches through a body of material not easily accessed through indices to our various records.
Information Which Must Be Denied by Law
Unless "officially" acknowledged by executive acknowledgment or official release, an intelligence organization like the CIA takes exemptions under the FOIA to protect sources and methods and national security information by neither confirming nor denying the existence of records on:
• CIA operational activities.
• Specific confidential or covert relationships (i.e., classified source).
• Most organizational components.
• Foreign nationals.
• Polygraph records.
• Names, official titles, salaries of CIA personnel.
• Numbers of personnel employed by CIA.
• Data relating to CIA budget and/or expenditures.
• CIA facilities.
• CIA liaison relationships with foreign governments.
• Information provided by a foreign government.
Fees
To avoid any unnecessary processing or delays in processing under the "All Other" fee category--should an individual qualify--a requester must:
• Agree to pay search fees before we begin processing your request.
• Realize each item of a search generally averages $150 (a more precise estimate of your cost can be made upon request).
• Pay fees regardless if any records concerning your request for information are located and releasable.
• Pay all delinquent fees before further requests will be processed.
Referrals to Other Government Agencies
If we locate records originated by another government agency during our search, we will refer this material to that agency for review and direct response to you.
Letters Written in a Foreign Language
We do not accept communications in other than the English language because we are not authorized to expend government funds for translations and because the FOIA does not authorize government agencies to conduct research in order to satisfy requests.
Location of CIA Records Before 1947, Date of CIA's Creation
We do have some administrative Office of Strategic Services, (OSS) records; however, operational records have been transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). You can send any requests for operational OSS records to the following address:
Office of Records Services
Modern Military Records
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
[link to www.foia.cia.gov]

How to file a Privacy Act Request
The Seven Essential Elements of a Request Letter (sample below)
1. Specify in writing that you wish to receive a copy of records indexed to your name, or complete this form.
Write to:
Information and Privacy Coordinator
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
Or send via fax to: 703-613-3007.
Provide your full name and address.
We cannot accept Privacy Act requests via electronic mail.
2. Provide your date and place of birth.
3. Provide your citizenship status. If you are a naturalized US citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR), we require your naturalization or LPR number and the date that status was acquired.
4. Notarize your letter or sign it under penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746 to ensure that records concerning you are only released to you. If you're making the request through an attorney, include an original notarized statement or statement signed under penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746 authorizing us to release information to your attorney.
5. Requests must be submitted in English
Sample Privacy Act Request Letter
Date
Information and Privacy Coordinator
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505
Dear Coordinator:
Under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552 and the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. section 552a, please furnish me with copies of all records about me indexed to my name.
To help identify information about me in your record systems, I am providing the following required information:
Full name, current address, date and place of birth, citizenship status
Optional: Please explain contact, if any, with the Agency or any other information that would help us distinguish between you and other individuals with the same or similar names.
If you deny all or any part of this request, please cite each specific exemption that forms the basis of your refusal to release the information and notify me of appeal procedures available under the law.
Optional: If you have any questions about handling this request, you may telephone me at (home phone) or at my (office phone).
Sincerely,
Name
Statement swearing under threat of perjury that above information is true or have the letter notarized.

Fees and Waivers
The CIA charges No Fees for processing a Privacy Act requests.
The Privacy Act authorizes federal agencies to collect fees for record services--specifically for searches and reproduction--as a matter of administrative discretion; the CIA does not assess fees for either searches or reproduction when processing Privacy Act requests.
Note that the CIA processes requests under the authority of both the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act in order to ensure the maximum possible disclosure for the requester.
[link to www.foia.cia.gov]