Feds Refuse to Release Public Comments on NSA Reform — Citing Privacy

The President Barack Obama administration has received 28 proposals from corporations with ideas for managing the NSA’s massive database of U.S. phones call metadata. But don’t expect to see the proposals any time soon. The government says it won’t release a word.
President Barack Obama and James Clapper the nation's top intelligence official. Photo J. Scott ApplewhiteAP
President Barack Obama and James Clapper, the nation's top intelligence official.Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The Obama administration has received 28 proposals from corporations with ideas for managing the NSA's massive database of U.S. phones call metadata. But don't expect to see the proposals anytime soon. The government says it won't release a word.

At issue is President Obama’s most significant NSA reform: his plan to take the trillion-plus records continuously gathered on American's phones calls out of the NSA's hands and give it to a third-party, and making it accessible to the government only through an order from a secret tribunal.

The plan, based on a recommendation from an NSA reform panel Obama commissioned, would put a trove of information about American citizens at arm’s length from the government, while maintaining the functionality of a program that came to light amid leaks by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The details of who would manage the database and how the NSA's access would be controlled have not yet been hashed out. To that end, on Feb. 12, James Clapper, who heads the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), closed a week-long process in which he urged U.S. companies to provide "information about existing commercially available capabilities" to house and protect telephones metadata while allowing NSA access via court orders.

The Request For Information, or RFI as it is known, "is not soliciting information on research efforts nor is it soliciting bids from sources seeking to serve as third-party data storage providers."

The RFI informs those responding to "ensure that the submitted material has been approved for public release," which, naturally, led WIRED to believe that the material would be released to the public. Two weeks ago we asked Clapper’s office for submissions received under the RFI. We were told to file a Freedom of Information Act request. We did so.

We got our response Wednesday: A blanket denial. (.pdf) Jennifer Hudson, the ODNI chief FOIA officer, wrote WIRED saying the agency located 28 documents "responsive to your request," but:

Upon review, ODNI has determined the material should be withheld in its entirety in accordance with FOIA exemptions (b)(4) and (b)(6). Exemption (b)(4) applies to confidential proprietary information involving trade secrets and commercial data obtained from a company which, if released, would result in competitive hard to the company. Exemption (b)(6) applies to information which, if released, would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of individuals.

At the outset of his first term, Obama promised "transparency and open government." He specifically pledged "to provide greater transparency to our surveillance activities" in reforming the NSA during his globally televised speech on Jan. 17.

We're immediately appealing the FOIA denial. We'll keep you posted.