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Brief 10: Freedom of Information Act

The Freedom to Know.

The Freedom of Information Act "has provided the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government. Federal agencies are required to disclose any information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions which protect interests such as personal privacy, national security, and law enforcement."

In Layman's terms, it's the peoples right to ask the Government for information about disclosed events or documents. Most documents that the public would want information to fall under one of the nine exemptions, but there are a few exceptions such as the JFK files.

A recent FOIA news story I've found discusses Google and their work with the military and drones. The Pentagon recently determined that Google's work with drones and the military is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. It's been a little over a year since Google started on Project Maven, developing AI for military drones.

Google employees who were previously unaware of Google's partnership with the Pentagon were very angry after finding out about the contract between the organizations. Google claims that they were unaware if the AI for drones were being used for lethal purposes.


Following the public release of the agreement between Google and the Pentagon, Google announced the Google Transparency Project, an archive of Google documents from the FOIA. Following the announcement of Project Maven, Google will not be renewing their contract with the Pentagon.

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