For this week’s show on ‘Do It Yourself.’ Sound Effect host, Gabriel Spitzer and I set out to get our FBI files and you can too! Spoiler Alert: So easy.
According to FBI.gov, FBI files can be requested through the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act, “The Freedom of Information Act allows any person—except fugitives, federal agencies, and foreign intelligence agencies—to request information about organizations, businesses, investigations, historical events, incidents, groups, or deceased persons.”
Gabe and I decided to send out FOIA requests to a number of government agencies including the FBI, CIA and Secret Service. We used the website http://www.getmyfbifile.com to generate the form letters needed. At that website you can fill in some basic information and voila! You’ve got your letters. You must then send those letters in the actual mail (I know!) and begin patiently waiting for your response.
Five of the seven agencies I requested my files from responded within five weeks. No agency had a file to send me and each made it clear that I could send an additional request if I felt they had missed something.
Though it was a little disappointing to find out that not a single government agency is tapping my phone and surveilling my dog walks, it was nearly free (just the cost of postage) and really exciting to ask and be answered by the government. You can do it in three easy steps:
1. Go to http://www.getmyfbifile.com
2. Fill out the forms, print and send away your letters.
3. Wait.
For more information on the Freedom of Information Act and its long history, read this.
