In 1966, in response to the public's desire to know more about what government was
doing and why, Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act (P.L. 93-502), opening
the workings of government to the public eye.
In 1974, substantial amendments to the FOIA affected our policies on what administrative
and instructional material must be released to the public upon request, as well as
personal information if it did not constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an
individual's personal privacy.
In 1996, P.L. 104-231, the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA) Amendments,
amended the FOIA to provide for public access to government information electronically
or in other formats as requested.