Freedom of Information Act and wire tap, help

[Mec4040]

What is the name of your state? NY


Hello,

I have a question about how the freedom of information act, works and possible wire tap. If there was a wire tap on my home phone or cell phone and if they were monitoring my online activity, could I use the freedom of information act to find anything out???


Thanks for the help

Jon

 

[BelizeBreeze]

that depends entirely on all relevant facts of the 'case' or whether or not it is an ongoing investigation.

FOIA is not a fishing expedition. You must have reasonable proof that the tap is there or know which documents you want to have access to.

 

[Mec4040]

Hello,

First want to thank you for taking the time to help. To answer you question, yes I know for a fact there is a investigation but I dont know how far they are going...meaning going far enough to tap phone or not.

As for knowing the correct documents...how do I go about finding out what documents would be the rights ones. Its hard to know what is available, if I dont know what to ask for. Please let me know any information, it would be of great help.


Thanks again for your time and effort,

Jon

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Hello,

First want to thank you for taking the time to help. To answer you question, yes I know for a fact there is a investigation but I dont know how far they are going...meaning going far enough to tap phone or not.

As for knowing the correct documents...how do I go about finding out what documents would be the rights ones. Its hard to know what is available, if I dont know what to ask for. Please let me know any information, it would be of great help.


Thanks again for your time and effort,

Jon

Unless you know the exact documents you want, an FOI won't get you anywhere. And as I said, if there is an ongoing investigation, you won't get anything.

you need to contact an attorney to sort through the alternatives.

 

[CdwJava]

Hello,

First want to thank you for taking the time to help. To answer you question, yes I know for a fact there is a investigation but I dont know how far they are going...meaning going far enough to tap phone or not.

As for knowing the correct documents...how do I go about finding out what documents would be the rights ones. Its hard to know what is available, if I dont know what to ask for. Please let me know any information, it would be of great help.

Think of it this way ... if it were just as easy as filing some forms and having the government snap their fingers and say, "Darn, we got caught!" then every drug cartel and criminal syndicate in the country would submit these FOIA requests daily. It is NOT that easy, and as you have been advised, they will not do you any good if there is an active investigation. They can tell you almost anything they want to if there is an investigation.

The easiest way to avoid any problems is not to plan any illegal activity over the phone.

Oh! And if they have gone so far as to tap your phone, don't you think they are also tracing your IP address?? They'll want to know the websites you've visited and the e-mails you've sent, too. And subpoenas to ISPs for that info can be pretty easy.

- Carl

 

[peanut44]

I've done several FOIA requests for work. They are not that difficult. I suppose it depends on what agency your dealing with though. No special forms. I even requested everyone else's foia requests for an entire year, just to see what info I could get my hands on. Some of them were written in magic marker. If you make a request, they are obligated to give you what you want with some exceptions. items pending investigation is one of them.

 

[CdwJava]

In which case, you won't get what you are looking for!

- Carl

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Oh! And if they have gone so far as to tap your phone, don't you think they are also tracing your IP address?? They'll want to know the websites you've visited and the e-mails you've sent, too. And subpoenas to ISPs for that info can be pretty easy.

- Carl

ahhhh the blossoming field of computer forensics. It's a gold mine and I have a backhoe ready for digging

 

[Mec4040]

Wow...I want to thank everyone for the help. It was some very good info and I kinda understand what everyone said.

I do have a few more questions if no one minds...I understand the whole not being able to get my info if they are still watching me...I get that...but as for when they are done or later in life, how do I go about asking for some of the info, meaning how do I know what I can ask for???

To peanut44, your post was very interesting. You mentioned that you had request for work and also requested everyone elses for a year...please take the time to let me know what and how you did this. I know what I'm asking might seem like a lot, but it would really mean alot as well as be very helpful if you could please do this. If you would rather send it in a email, please do so.

Again, I want to really thank everyone who has tried to help out.


Jon
email: accteam@allcitycontracting(TAKEOUT2SENDMAIL).com

 

[CdwJava]

Let me ask you this - let us assume for a moment that you might actually get information that says you were once the subject of some kind of investigation ... what then?



- Carl

 

[enjay]

It's really as simple as writing a letter to the FOIA office of the agency and asking for, "any records concerning the investigation of ______________ ." As mentioned, the request will be denied if the investigation is ongoing and the agency will likely neither confirm nor deny the existence of the records. If the investigation is closed, the response will be redacted in accordance with the FOIA exemptions. It's not a quick process. Most agencies have a tremendous backlog.

 

[CdwJava]

It's not a quick process. Most agencies have a tremendous backlog.

Maybe some of the federal ones ... most local agencies likely have never - or have rarely - received such a request. And, in some states (like mine) a lot of that information is available on request under certain circumstances anyway. FOIA is usually used for big, bad agencies like the feds and maybe some state ones.

- Carl

 

[enjay]

Maybe some of the federal ones ... most local agencies likely have never - or have rarely - received such a request. And, in some states (like mine) a lot of that information is available on request under certain circumstances anyway. FOIA is usually used for big, bad agencies like the feds and maybe some state ones.

- Carl

Hey, I resemble that remark!

True...I'm a fed so I when I think agency I think federal agency. By law we have 30 days to issue some sort of response, but some agencies have a several year backlog. My mid-sized agency gets about 80,000 requests a year.

 

[Mec4040]

Hello,


Thanks again for the tips. As for what would I do after I found out if there was infact any report...well, nothing. I would do nothing, I just want to see what info they recorded, thats all.

As for wanting to get the request FOIA forms of what other people have sent in, how would I ask for that?


PS: peanut44 if you can please email me with some help, I would be very thankful


Again thanks for all the help.

 

[Mec4040]

Hello,


enjay or anyone else can you please read my last post. I'm trying to understand how I can request some of these documents....please just help me out a bit, please.




Thanks