Comments on: HOWTO request your FBI file

By: furrygirl

furrygirl — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:48:00 +0000

There’s a sister site to the one I used just for that purpose: http://www.getgrandpasfbifile.com/

By: finette

finette — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:09:00 +0000

There's a great book about John Lennon's FBI file, which was requested in a FOIA test case. It took 14 years for them to release it because they said it could endanger national security. When it was finally released to the author, there were several things very wrong in it--including a "wanted poster" that showed the wrong guy. I see that the author (Jon Wiener) has a website with scans of some of the documents.

By: finette

finette — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:59:00 +0000

Yes, I believe you can request the file of a deceased relative.

By: Outtacontext

Outtacontext — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:13:00 +0000

Can you request a file of your relative? I’d love to see if they have anything about my father (who is no longer alive). He worked in the Skunkworks at Lockheed on many secret projects. As for me, I was fingerprinted at the FBI headquarters in DC when my wife and I were applying to adopt a baby. So, I would assume, if I didn’t already have a file, I have one now.

By: Roxanne

Roxanne — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:05:00 +0000

I wouldn’t think they were joking at all. That’s the first thing I thought of. Today I’m a nameless person on the internet being tracked by Google to sell advertising for things mentioned in my emails. Tomorrow I’m on a red-flag list for the FBI wondering why I’m so interested in who has been watching me.

By: noah django

noah django — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:35:00 +0000

the secret service has a file on me. i could care less about the FBI.

By: Mister

Mister — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:05:00 +0000

i think the act of just requesting a file would open the doors to actually starting a new one on you…… big brother is ever vigilant

By: kmoser

kmoser — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:35:00 +0000

The FBI’s file on me is not nearly as interesting as my file on the FBI.

By: HD

HD — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 04:44:00 +0000

I can’t say I’m surprised that the FBI got all the surveillance information wrong. They spent a year trying to find me once and never bothered to check the phone book, back when everyone was in the phone book.

Just because they might be incompetent doesn’t mean they can’t do a lot of damage, though.

By: furrygirl

furrygirl — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:31:00 +0000

I heard I was mentioned on BoingBoing this week, but it took me a while to find the post. Is there a reason I’ve been anonymized as “a woman” rather than being referenced by the pseudonym I’ve been using for a decade? I don’t disclose my legal name online, but I do use *a* name.

Thanks for making this my third mention on BB, though! When I filed the request, I assumed this older BB-covered incident would show up: http://boingboing.net/2010/11/21/my-tsa-stripdown-vid.html

By: mccrum

mccrum — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:32:00 +0000

I’ve always thought they would at the very least need to create a file that started with “requested file” and then created a folder for you to store that request in.

By: judygumbo

judygumbo — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:10:00 +0000

There’s nothing new about the FBI getting everything wrong in a surveillance. In 1974 they put a tracking device on my car and installed a listening device in my home for 8 days. The claim for their mistakes, according to my files was that “Stew Albert and Judy Gumbo are difficult to surveil because they are paranoid about being surveilled.” Check out the full story on my website http://www.yippiegirl.com the more things change.

By: ialreadyexist

ialreadyexist — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:20:00 +0000

That website is obviously a ploy by the FBI to encourage potential terrorists to out themselves by requesting their own file. And BoingBoing fell right into their trap. For shame.

By: Inkmatt

Inkmatt — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:27:00 +0000

When I was studying archival practices as a grad student, a professor told us of the value of requesting FBI files, but warned that if you didn’t already have a file, the act of asking would be the first step in creating one.

By: Cowicide

Cowicide — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:13:00 +0000

Yeah, I have to wonder if requesting information will create a file for you that didn’t exist before. It would be interesting for people to check later to see if their empty file grows afterwards and conduct a study on this.

The website says this in the FAQ:

http://www.getmyfbifile.com/faq.html#open

If I request my file, will they open a file on me if I don’t have one?

We believe that this is an urban legend. For many years people have joked that “If you request your FBI file, the FBI will create a file on you if you don’t have one.” While this is funny in a darkly humorous and self-referential kind of way, there is no evidence to suggest that this is true. Requesting a copy of your own records via the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act is perfectly legal, and there is no reason to believe that the FBI would start a file on you for such a request.

But, this statement is notably missing any references to sources at all. Call me skeptical, but I just don’t take random website’s word on things without supporting evidence/backup.

By: marilove

marilove — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:08:00 +0000

I’ve done a bit of activism, including protesting at a Senate hearing. I bet I have a file!

By: petertrepan

petertrepan — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:04:00 +0000

I’m not completely sure if you’re joking. I think Poe’s Law applies to conversations about the U.S. security apparatus.

By: mwschmeer

mwschmeer — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:52:00 +0000

Remember that in the FBI procedural manual, requesting your FBI file is a sign that you might be a terrorist!