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.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Why do I think that if I told the Professor that FOIA requestors and concealed carry license-holders should be granted precisely the same degree of anonymity, he would stare at me as if I was sorting horns?