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ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED Page Iof3 HEREIN IS UNCLASSIFIED DATE 02-03-2016 BYC32W33B91 NSICG UNCLASSIFIED FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION POLICY DIRECTIVE 0481D Policy Directive Title. Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Requests Publication Date. 2012~02-08 3.Effective Date 2012~02-08 4.Review Date. 2018~02-08 5.Primary Strategic Objective. P2Assign responsibity and own accountability 6.Authorities: 6.1.The Freedom of Information ActFOIA,Title 5 United States CodeU.S.C)Section5552,a5 amended [FOIA statute] 6.2,The Privacy Act of 1974 Privacy Act),5 U.S.C.g 552a,as amended [Privacy Act statute] 6.3. The OPEN Government Act of 2007 [2007 FOIA Amendments] 6.4.The OPEN FOIA Act 0f 2009 [2009 FOIA Amendments] 6.5, Attorney General Memorandum for Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies - The Freedom of Information Act March 19,2009)[AG Memo] 7.Purpose: 7.1,This directive establishes actions to be taken by the Records Management Division (RMD) Record/Information Dissemination Section (Rios), Headquarters (HQ) Branches, Divisions and Offices, Field Offices (FO), and Legal Attaches (Legats) when responding to Freedom of Information Act and/or Privacy ActFOI/pA) requests received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI). 7.2, The FOiA reguires that records in the possession of agencies and departments of the executive branch of the United States Government be accessible to the public. The FOIA sets standards for determining which records the government must disclose and which records may be withheld. The FOIA also provides administrative and judicial remedies for those denied access to records. 7.3. The Privacy Act regulates the collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of personal information by federal executive branch agencies, The purpose of the Privacy Act is to balance the government's need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of the individuals to be 7.4.The Open Government Act of 2007,OPEN FOIA Act of 2009and the AG FOIA Guidelines,direct all executive branch departments and agencies to apply a presumption of openness when administering the FOt/PA.The guidelines establish a new standard for the defense of agency decisions to withhold records only if the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected by one of the nine statutory exemptions, or disclosure is prohibited by law.The AG Memo recognizes that "the disclosure obligation under the FOl/PA is not absolute."However, in the absence of harm,agencies must disclose information in keeping with transparency.Furthermore, executive branch agencies are directed to remove unnecessary hurdles for members of the public when making requests and to respond to requests in a timely manner. 8.Policy Statement: 8.1.It is the policy of the FBI to respond to requests pursuant to the FOI/PA within 20 business days b7E