Our own public servants own us?

Government loves to spy on us. They look at our email and listen in on our calls in intelecommunications networks and tweets and view our blogs and watch us on cams every where. They data mine everything about us. The NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. They don't want us to have any sort of privacy if they have their way. But when it comes to them they want everything and they don't want us to have anything. Do we ever get any information from them without jumping through a lot of hoops? Is there an easy way to get information from public servant government agencies? Our own public servants own us?

" And that is exactly what MuckRock is all about: Making FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests for you (and investigative reporters) so you don't have to deal with the often-daunting paperwork and runarounds you may run into when you try to pry information out of a recalcitrant government agency. In theory, most government information is public. In practice, many local, state and federal government bodies would just as soon never tell you anything. This is why Tim Lord talked with MuckRock co-founder Michael Morisy, and why we're running this interview in the middle of Sunshine Week, which exists "...to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy."