EPIC Sues OPM for Ignoring FOIA Requests About Information Security, Privacy Practices
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued the federal government's Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Friday for failing to respond to a pair of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about its information security and worker privacy practices, EPIC said Monday.
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According to the complaint at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (case 25-597), EPIC made the first FOIA request on Jan. 28 when an anonymous OPM employee alleged that leadership was making broad information requests of federal agencies about their employees, with the resulting content sent to an individual who lacked the right security clearance. The second request on Feb. 14 came after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) installed a government-wide email system at OPM, the complaint said.
OPM acknowledged and waived the fee for the first FOIA request on Feb. 3, while saying it would review EPIC's request for expedited processing, the complaint said. OPM hasn't acknowledged the second FOIA request, EPIC said.
It's required that every agency has a Chief FOIA officer and one or more FOIA Public Liaisons, but EPIC alleges that OPM dismissed members of its FOIA Request Service Center around Feb. 14. The complaint says a CNN story from Feb. 18 confirms this allegation.
“Defendant OPM’s repeated, unlawful, and intentional actions have harmed, and will continue to harm, EPIC and other requesters by requiring them to file suit against the agency in order to get the agency to process reasonably described FOIA requests,” the complaint said.