So here's a fun #FOIA game. Read this paragraph from a response letter and try to guess what is being requested. Answer is below.
The answer is, literally anything the agency doesn't want to search for. This is TEMPLATE LANGUAGE. As in, if they decide a request is unreasonably burdensome, they say that it'll require a search of every email, every database, and every document, regardless of what the request actually is for.
It ignores the possibility that a request can be unduly burdensome and yet limited to some subset of locations. It's not hard to imagine such a request. Let's say you file a request for every ...
@NatlSecCnslrs Yeah, I was going to say, that reads like they *designed* their infrastructure to make searches burdensome under the law to evade FOIA requests...
Why would an intelligence agency have decentralized email? That's *terrible* for security.
@LouisIngenthron @NatlSecCnslrs
Ever heard of Compartmentalisation.
If they have a single instance, any adversary only needs to compromise that single instance.
@antipode77 @NatlSecCnslrs It also means the agency only needs to defend one door, instead of thousands.
With a decentralized infrastructure, they won't be able to reliably enforce security rules, making it easier overall to access the individual nodes.
@antipode77 @NatlSecCnslrs And what kind of secrets are being kept from the public that they don't want FOIA'able.
@LouisIngenthron @NatlSecCnslrs
You have a point with your argument.
So the deciding factor on how this is done must be the kind of secrets, that are being kept from an adversary.