Main Topic Transparency

What’s in Your File: Part V, the TSA

What's in your TSA File?

Like many large government agencies, the TSA dedicates a few pages of their web site to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Privacy Act (PA) requests. They explain how requests should be submitted, and what information one needs to include.

Here’s a screen shot of TSA’s Privacy Act page.


Instructions for submitting a privacy act request to the TSA.

FOIA and PA requests are a valuable way for people to learn about what happens inside goverment, and I applaud any efforts to streamline the FOIA process.

As it happened, I had a privacy act request to make. Here’s the response, which didn’t quite come from the TSA.


Privacy act request to TSA, returned as undeliverable

This was a first for me: I’ve never had a FOIA/PA request returned as undeliverable. Perhaps the TSA isn’t so keen on FOIA after all.

Update: According to the TSA, FOIA and privacy act requests should be sent to the following address:

Transportation Security Administration
Freedom of Information Act Office, TSA-20
11th Floor, East Tower
601 South 12th Street
Arlington, VA 22202-4220

Apparently they’ve just got the wrong address listed on their website.

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