FOIA Electronic Reading Room
The CIA has established this site to provide the public with an overview of access to CIA information, including electronic access to previously released documents. Because of CIA's need to comply with the national security laws of the United States, some documents or parts of documents cannot be released to the public. In particular, the CIA, like other U.S. intelligence agencies, has the responsibility to protect intelligence sources and methods from disclosure. However, a substantial amount of CIA information has been and/or can be released following review. See "Your Rights" for further details on the various methods of obtaining this information.
What's New at FOIA?
Site last updated: August 20, 2009
Foreign Broadcast Information Service History, Part 1: 1941-1947
In response to the burgeoning intelligence requirements dictated by the World War II (WWII), the Foreign Broadcast Monitoring Service (FBMS) evolved into the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) on 26 July 1942. The first 44 years of FBIS is chronicled dutifully and expertly in this 1969 study. Foreign Broadcast Information Service History, Part 1: 1941-1947 (15MB PDF)
Top Searches!
The Frequently Requested Records section now shows May - July 2009 Top 25 Search Phrases and July 2009 Top 25 Documents viewed.
Creating Global Intelligence
Discover the back story of the US intelligence community by exploring "Creating Global Intelligence: The Creation of the US Intelligence Community and Lessons for the 21st Century", a collection of declassified documents from the late 1940s to the early 1950s that ultimately led to the establishment of the CIA. This 800+ collection allows history to come to life as well as giving perspectives on the complex issues that senior US Government officials grappled with when considering how to establish an enduring national intelligence capability
Air America: Upholding the Airmen's Bond
A fascinating assembly of documents revealing the role that Air America, the Agency's proprietary airline, played in the search and rescue of pilots and personnel during the Vietnam War. The collection has personal accounts by the rescued pilots and thank you letters as well as commendations from various officials.
UPDATED! 25-Year Program Archive Search
New data has been loaded to the CREST archive search.
The automatic declassification provisions of Executive Order 12958, as amended, require the declassification of nonexempt historically-valuable records 25 years old or older. By 31 December 2006 all agencies were to have completed the review of all hardcopy documents determined to be historically valuable (designated as "permanent" by the agency and the National Archives) and exclusively containing their equities. As the deadline pertains to CIA, it covers the span of relevant documents originally dating from the establishment of the CIA after WWII through 1981.
CIA has deployed an electronic full-text searchable system it has named CREST (the CIA Records Search Tool), which has been operational since 2000 and is located at NARA II in College Park Maryland. On this Agency site, researchers can now use an on-line CREST Finding Aid to research the availability of CIA documents declassified and loaded onto CREST through 2008. Data for the remaining years up to the present (CREST deliveries have been ongoing) will be placed on this site at later dates.
Search the CREST web database here. Note: it does not contain actual images of the documents as the regular Electronic Reading Room search does. Rather, it contains details on the files to speed FOIA requests.
2008 Annual Report
2008 Annual Report is now available on the Annual Reports page.
Certification of FOIA Reading Room
New Documents!
21 new documents have been added to the site. Other new releases may be viewed here.
Public Liaison Change
The designated FOIA Public Liaisons have been revised. Please check the CIA FOIA Request Status page for the current information.
CIA FOIA Backlog Reduction Goals for FY08, FY09, and FY10
CIA Files Updated Status Report on Implementing Executive Order 13392
Updated Status Report From the Central Intelligence Agency Concerning Reported Deficiencies in Implementing Executive Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information" 1 August 2007
This report updates the progress the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has made implementing its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) improvement plan required by Executive Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information." The report conforms to the template the Department of Justice provided online in "Guidance on Submitting Updated Status Reports to the President's Management Council."
Improving Agency Disclosure of Information
Plan and Report of the Central Intelligence Agency Submitted to the Attorney General of the United States and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget In Compliance with Executive Order 13392.
This report is the response of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to Section 2(b) of Executive Order 13392 which requires the Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer of each federal agency subject to the FOIA to develop an "agency-specific plan to ensure that the agency's administration of the FOIA is in accordance with applicable law and the policies set forth in section 1 of this Order." PDF format, 410k.