homeland security – National Freedom of Information Coalition

DHS report makes recommendations for greater open source software use in government

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A report commissioned by the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate says barriers to using and developing open source software must be addressed as IT budgets across government continue to tighten.

Security and the perceptions of security are just as problematic as "non-security" challenges to open source software, or OSS, says the report's authors ñ David Wheeler, a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and Tom Dunn, senior research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

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Freedom of Information Request Backlog Hits 50,000 at DHS

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Those seeking documents from the Department of Homeland Security will likely have to wait for their requests to be filled. According to a new report released this month from the DHS Privacy Office, the agency now has a backlog of more than 50,000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, The Hill reported, with most of those related to immigration records.

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Homeland Security stiffs Times reporters

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From Courthouse News Service: MANHATTAN (CN) – Two New York Times reporters sued the Department of Homeland Security for records on their interrogations at JFK Airport this year.

The DHS claims the records do not exist, though one reporter claims his interview was entered on a computer.

Mac William Bishop and Christopher Chivers sued the Department of Homeland Security in Federal Court.

Both filed FOIA requests for information about their questioning at the airport; both were brushed off.

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Judge says Homeland Security cannot keep wireless shutdown protocols secret

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From The Washington Free Beacon: A court has ruled that the Department of Homeland Security must release its protocols for a shut down of wireless systems, rejecting claims that the criteria for triggering a wireless system shutdown are exempt.

Read more:

http://bit.ly/18xeI71

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Homeland Security must disclose ‘Internet Kill Switch,’ court rules

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From The Washington Times: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must disclose its plans for a so-called Internet “kill switch,” a federal court ruled on Tuesday.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the agency’s arguments that its protocols surrounding an Internet kill switch were exempt from public disclosure and ordered the agency to release the records in 30 days. However, the court left the door open for the agency to appeal the ruling.

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FOIA backlog grows even as agencies process more requests

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From Federal News Radio:

Federal agencies processed more than 631,000 requests for government records under the Freedom of Information Act in fiscal 2011, 5 percent more than the year before. But the number of backlogged requests government-wide nonetheless shot up from less than 70,000 to more than 83,000.

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Read More… from FOIA backlog grows even as agencies process more requests