Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA / ˈ f ɔɪ j ə / FOY-yə), 5 U.S.C. § 552, is the United States federal freedom of information law that requires the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased or uncirculated information and documents controlled by the U.S. government upon request. The act defines agency records subject to ...
James Madison wrote during the United States Constitutional Convention, "The right of freely examining public characters and measures and free communication, is the only effective guardian of every other right." [1] [2] Several federal laws have strengthened the public's ability to access public records.
It established uniform policies for allowing employees of the federal government access to classified information. It detailed standards for disclosure, eligibility requirements and levels of access, and administrative procedures for granting or denying access and for appealing such determinations. [1]
To protect the privacy and liberty rights of individuals, federal agencies must state "the authority (whether granted by statute, or by Executive order of the President) which authorizes the solicitation of the information and whether disclosure of such information is mandatory or voluntary" when requesting information.
Freedom of information laws allow access by the general public to data held by national governments and, where applicable, by state and local governments. The emergence of freedom of information legislation was a response to increasing dissatisfaction with the secrecy surrounding government policy development and decision making. [1]
As a component of the Obama Administration's initiative to improve transparency and open-access to the Federal Government and the information it produces formally introduced upon taking office in late January 2009 [2] and as a result of an agency-wide review and recommendation process ordered in May of that same year, [3] the issuance of EO 13526 was ultimately prompted by several factors.
The First Amendment states the government cannot violate the individual's right to " freedom of speech, or of the press". [3] In the past, this amendment primarily served as a legal justification for infringement on an individual's right to privacy; as a result, the government was unable to clearly outline a protective scope of the right to speech versus the right to privacy.
expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 by disclosing direct federal agency expenditures and linking federal contract, loan, and grant spending information to federal programs to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track federal spending more effectively; establish government-wide data standards for financial ...