The Freedom of Information Act or the FOIA was developed and effect since 1966, What the FOIA does is it provides the public the right to request access to records from any federal agency. It provides the public with information about their government. Citizens, foreign nationals, as well as university students have access to request declassified documents, records, court papers, etc.
The American agency that Administers the work proposed in the FOIA are the Archives. The Archives are responsible to collect and publish declassified documents obtained through the FOIA. The Archive staff track U.S Governemnt agencies and federal records for documents that have never been released before to the public.
The FOIA is beneficial to the public some what. The public are able to benefit through access of documents and information that sometimes are hidden or kept away from the public eye. I say some what because the FOIA is not entirely out there with no limitations. The FOIA has exemptions such as, protecting personal privacy, national security, law enforcement and others. It may just be my opinion, but I strongly argue that there is so much out there that the government does not want the public to know, and the information that are free to us is just sugarcoated to protect the government.
