LETTER TO JOSEPH W. LAMBERT FROM MARK S. ZAID RE COMMENTS ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO 32 C.F.C. & 1900

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005633806
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: March 22, 2011
• Case Number: F-2011-00380
• Publication Date: May 18, 2008

(b)(6)
~je ,~an~e.~. bigui~ ~r~ulect
1250 ~utYiiecticttt ~beliue, ,~.
quite 200
~A~YJiIII~tDiY, ~:~tCC. 20036
(202)
49R-0011.
E-Mail: JaMadPro(a?,aol.cotn
(202)
330-5610 fax
htt~://www.jamesmadisonproject.org
18 May 2008
Joseph VV. Lambert '
Director of Information Management Services
Central Intelligence Agency
~~/ashington, DC 20505
Re: Comments on~roposed changes to 32 C.F.R. , 1900
In response to your proposed changes to the above Central Intelligence Agency ("CIA") regulations
published in the 17 Apri12008 Federal Register, please accept the following three comments from the
James Madison Project ("JMP"), a Washington, DC, non-profit organization established in 1998.to
promote goveirunent accountability and the reduction of secrecy, as well as to educate the public on
issues relating to intelligence and national security through means of research, advocacy and the
dissemination of information.
In pursuit of ifs mission, JMP has filed numerous FOIA requests with the CIA and other federal
agencies and engaged in administrative appeals and litigation where necessary. As such, we hope that our
comments will allow for smoother handling of FOIA requests and fewer situations where administrative
appeals or litigation will even be necessary.
1) One of the CIA's stated intentions for proposing these changes was to "more clearly
reflect the CIA's organizational structure." However; the primary problem related to the
CIA's organizational structure is that not enough is known about it outside of the CIA.
According to ? 1900.12 (including proposed revisions), "requesters are encouraged to be
as specific as possible in describing the records they are seeking" so that "Agency
professionals who are familiar with the subject area of the request are able, with a
reasonable amount of effort, to determine which particular records are within the scope of
the request." Unfortunately, precious little is known about the CIA's organizational
structure, making it often difficult to specify the records one is seeking. Broad outlines of
'.i'i tl0lulebge 11/!ff f01'ebef g'O1/EI'tl lg7lOTAlIf2, AIlb A ~ilEOflfE 1170 tl"lEA!! t0 tri2 t~etr D1Ul/ C~OI/ETt/OTS; t!l1l~t RZ'flY
t~errr~'eflle_~' Ivrt~ tie potaer ~nDivfebge gil/e~'. "
~"Arrle~~7lrbi~'Drl, 1822
APPROVED FOR RELEASE
DATE: 07-Mar-2011
 fl: Y~el IYIGIt~dfidndn (~ cvvoo ~ G ~ oaf ~ ~,.ivacNn yam ~ci a 1 r r vv~. ~ ...,~... J
~Cl)e ~ame~ ~,~IaDi~on project
the CIA's organization, such as the organization chart located at
https://www.cia.g_ov/about-cia/leadership/cia-organization-chart.html or brief discussions
elsewhere on the CIA website, are not specific enough to be useful to most requesters.
The ability to specifically request records of particular CIA offices and subdivisions, or
even to recommend possible offices or subdivisions that might have generated the types
of records sought, would allow requesters to be considerably more specific in their
requests, thereby saving CIA FOIA analysts and attorneys significant time and
unnecessary effort.
While soiree aspects of the CIA's organizational structure are understandably classified,
there is little reason to withhold a more reasonably detailed organizational structure
regarding unclassified CIA components, and much to be gained in the efficiency of the
FOIA process (a case in point is the Medical and Psychological Analysis Center, a
publicly disclosed and documented CIA component about which the CIA website
contains no information, even regarding its parent Directorate). The recommended
solution to this lack of information is the publication on the CIA website of a more
detailed organization chart, as well as a mention of this chart on the page providing
instructions for submitting FOIA requests, so that potential requesters may specify the
probable locations of the records they are seeking.
Another of the CIA's stated intentions for proposing these changes was to "more clearly
reflect the CIA's ...record system configuration." However, as with the CIA's
organizational structure discussed above; not enough is known about the CIA's FOIA
record system configuration to be useful to most requesters. On the other hand, the CIA's
Privacy Act record system configuration is exhaustively detailed in the 22 July 2005
Federal Register, and as such allows astute Privacy Act requesters to be highly specific
in their requests. Therefore, the recommended solution to this lack of information is the
initiation by the CIA of azero-based, Agency-wide review of its Freedom of Information
Act systems of records as was completed in 2005 with respect to the CIA's Privacy Act
systems of records, culminating in the drafting and publication of a comparable set of
Freedom of Information Act notices that would more accurately describe the records
systems currently maintained by the Agency. As with the first comment, such a published
set of notices would allow requesters to be considerably more specific in their requests,
thereby saving CIA FOIA analysts and attorneys significant time and unnecessary effort.
3) Because most requesters are not professionals well-versed in FOIA or Privacy Act
procedures, they rely on the guidance provided by the-CIA FOIA/PA web page. For the
most part, this guidance is admirably specific and well-written, but it suffers from the
lack of inclusion of the Privacy Act system of records discussed in the second comment
above. If the CIA does publish a FOIA system of records notice as suggested above, this
system should be disclosed on the CIA FOIA/PA web page in the appropriate location. In
the meantime, the Privacy Act system of records should be disclosed on the CIA
"~ notalebge !ur"CI foreLer g'oLern rgnorAnce, rrnb x people Ya~o rrrerrn to die heir vfun ~vLerrror_~, rrru~'t arrrr
t~errr~'elLe~' tuit~ tie poluer ~nvlnlebQe giLeS "
~'trrrre~'~l~rbl~'on, ld2?
 n: r~ei mc~ytananan ~ i ~wuoa i ~ i nab i o:~osepn warn uei c ~ i r u~o i oouvi ~
~IJE ~Fittte# ~&>1l~Dri ~TOjCCt
FOIA/PA website in the appropriate location, so that lay requesters can use it to make
more specific requests.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments. If you wish to discuss these comments,
please do not hesitate to contact
Mark S. Zaid
Executive Director
"~ riolufebge lrs%If foreLer ,goUern igrtortrnce, Arrb A peopfe lino rrresn to fie t~efr otrn ~oGernor_~; rrra~'t rrrr~r
t~errr~'efLeS lur"t~ tie poluer knolufebge grUe_~: "
~rrrrre~'~7Abr~'on, 1622