You Go Google

In an interesting U.S. Court of Appeals case, John Davis v. U.S. Dept. of Justice decided Tuesday, the court told the FBI to go “Google.” The plaintiff, an author, wanted access under the Freedom of Information Act to some 25 year-old audiotapes of an investigation into the Mafia in Louisiana. The tapes had been made of a “prominent individual” and an undercover informant. The FBI’s excuse was that they didn’t know if the parties on the tape were dead. If they were, then privacy would then be less compelling. The court said, “The Bureau does not appear to have contemplated other ways of determining whether the speakers are dead, such as Googling them.”