Spy Back: How to View Your NSA or FBI File

Well why not use the legal system to get back at the NSA and find out what info ( if any ) they have on you? Americans that is.

If by law they have to give you a copy of your file then what harm is it to ask to view the information?

Does the FOIA not allow this?

There are two ways you can get your file. Your first option is to get it straight from the source. For the NSA file, you can go to the FOIA request form. Or for the FBI, you can go to their official request form as well. Or perhaps you don’t feel comfortable going through that process and would rather use another party, in which case you can utilize the website Get My FBI File. This website provides the forms for most agencies, CIA, DIA, FBI, NSA, etc.

Link

Thanks for posting this. Unlike many people I am actually *certain* I have a record with at least the FBI, and I'd love to read what it says about me.

would they not just deny the request on the grounds of "national security" assuming that you do have an active file

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


I doubt my file is "active" in any way shape or form, but even if it was, they could always redact huge portions of it.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


Back in 1972, I found out I had an FBI file dating to the '60s because I hawked an underground newspaper.

I was shocked at the time! I was just a kid!

Today? For myself, I don't really care. But for those of you whose lives will bridge between what is and what is to come?

I hope you learn to discard the waste of partisan political loyalties and spend your efforts on you and your fellow Americans.

reply to post by redoubt


lol I want my files
I need something to read

Like the governments going to follow the law...

reply to post by Psych3d3licPsych3


yeah well we have come to expect nothing less of them, but its worth a try is it not?

If they did have a file on you and then refused you access to it by say denial of its existance, then they would never be able to refer to that file in court?

I dunno

Option 2: Mail, fax, or e-mail your submission to:

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Attn: FOI/PA Request
Record/Information Dissemination Section
170 Marcel Drive
Winchester, VA 22602-4843
Fax: (540) 868-4391/4997
E-mail: [email protected]

reply to post by 0zzymand0s

Thanks for posting this. Unlike many people I am actually *certain* I have a record with at least the FBI, and I'd love to read what it says about me.

How so?....how so are you certain?

That's interesting, maybe after viewing the article a few people will try it and get some results. Personally I find it creepy that the NSA or FBI keeps tabs on people like that...

I think I flagged their attention with some buzzwords a few months ago though... At some point in the past year I subscribed to the White House email newsletter, after a week I wanted to cancel so I did the "unsubscribe" process through a link provided in their emails and thought it was cancelled.

Well, I kept receiving emails from them for almost a year. Kept unsubscribing from the newsletter, even sent them about a dozen emails asking them to stop sending me news... Until one day I sent my usual email asking to stop, but I included a paragraph filled with buzzwords like "terrorist, bomb, nuke, mass destruction" and suddenly the emails stopped

reply to post by Dominar


lol

Yeah that'll do it. You are prob on some list now somewhere.

Interesting!

So, who here is going to try it?
I applied to be part of the Census 2010 'temporary workers' through a local contractor, and I had to go through FBI clearance to get the job. They took my fingerprints, picture, blah blah with some hi-tech gadgetry, then told me to wait for the results.

I passed. And this was a 'super confidential assignment' within a locked wing of the building. They said that if the POTUS himself came in and asked questions we were not to answer them. So, I'm pretty sure my file is okay.

I went through the training, and started the job. I left it, though, having "failed" to use the "scripted" responses to census-responder's questions (this was the incoming Q&A call center) verbatim. It was ridiculous.

We weren't even allowed to "paraphrase" or to give a memorized answer - we HAD TO PULL UP THE QUESTION on the software system and read WORD FOR WORD, like robots, EXACTLY what was written there. If we answered without PULLING UP THE SCRIPT, even if our answer was completely correct and verbatim, we got 'written up'.

Stupid bureaucracy. Gave me some good insight into the debacle that is the D.C. govt machine.
:shk:
So, you all go ahead and try this. I'll be interested to see if anyone gets their file.

for most people, it will be a fingerprint file, esp if you served in the military

This is genius! Go ahead and give them your data with an official form, too..

reply to post by HomerinNC


Yeah and if you have travelled to America from abroad, last couple of times I went to America I got fingerprinted on arrival, and my photo taken by a webcam type camera at the customs desk. Made me feel like a criminal lol.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha


I like the sentiment, but his will not happen. A request can be denied, and as these people are already completely unaccountable to the government, let alone the public, why would they comply?

I would like to see a few people start requesting access to their information, but while the NSA is denying point blank that they have been monitoring you, what makes anyone think they would just slip up and admit it by providing you with that information?

It's interesting, and potentially fun from an annoyance and civil disobedience point of view (burying them in decades of paperwork), but pretty naive to expect it to result in anything substantial.

reply to post by Lady_Tuatha

Regarding the NSA, one of the things to keep in mind is that they probably don't have any records on you that are explicitly linked to your identity. They can list every phone call placed to or from your number but, unless you are an actual target, they don't have a file labeled "Lady Tuatha" with your call history in it. And they can't even generate the list of your call history unless your number is covered by one of the authorities they're operating under. (They can, but their superiors and the FISC will get angry at them.)

Intelligence sources and methods are a FOIA exception, so they are unlikely to share very much anyway.

Just curious did anyone request a copy of their file?

On reflection I cant see any of the agencies mentioned above actually playing by the rules and releasing info if they dont want to.

Originally posted by OtherSideOfTheCoin
would they not just deny the request on the grounds of "national security" assuming that you do have an active file

Yes it would be denied on the bases of National Security and classification reasons, I know this to be fact because a person that is in an organization I am in requested the information on themselves under FOIA guidelines and the request was denied.

I am quite sure that I have a file and I am sure it is most likely quite lengthy due to my active participation in OathKeepers which the SPLC and DHS has listed as a domestic terrorist organization, as well as my participation in another organization. Combine those two with the fact that I am a vet with certain specialized training and am very vocal in my thoughts on the wrongs perpetrated by our government, I am sure that I am being monitored.

Personally I don't give a rats backside what they list me as or think of my thoughts and actions, I will not be feared into compliance with a tyrannical agenda. If the NSA or anyone else is curious and wants info on me they know where I live and are more than welcome to come out sit down and talk.

Until then I will continue with my beliefs of a government operating within the limitations set forth in the Constitution. They should be looking into the real threats to America but they wont because to do so they would need a mirror.