Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): Background, Legislation, and Policy Issues

The Freedom of Information Act, often referred to as the embodiment of "the people's right to know" about the activities and operations of government, statutorily established a presumption of public access to information held by executive branch departments and agencies. Enacted in 1966 to replace the "Public Information" section of the Administrative Procedure Act FOIA allows any person-individual or corporate, citizen or not-to request and obtain, without explanation or justification, existing, identifiable, and unpublished agency records on any topic.