Professor: Names of FOIA Requestors Ought to be Protected

Like with library patrons

Federal agencies should treat the identities of Freedom of Information Act requesters with the same privacy protections as librarians extend to patrons, argues an City University of New York law school academic.

In a paper published in the April edition of Government Information Quarterly, Sarah Lamdan, a CUNY associate law library professor, argues that the routine online disclosure by agencies of the identities of FOIA requestors (for example [.pdf]) has potentially negative effects on the flow of information.