Electronic Dissemination: The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as amended directs each federal government agency to provide an electronic access mechanism for disseminating records to the public. This page is designed to allow access to records which have been previously released under the provisions of Title 5, Section 552, Freedom of Information Act.
Requests for Information:
To obtain records from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a FOIA request may be submitted in writing (reasonably describing the records requested), by email to FOIANGA@nga.mil or by using our online request form located under "Key Documents" in the upper right corner of this page.
All hardcopy requests for records maintained by NGA should be sent to NGA's FOIA Program Office at:
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
FOIA Requester Service Center
7500 GEOINT Drive, MS S71-OGCA
Springfield, Virginia 22150-7500
Phone 571-557-2987; DSN 578-2987
Written correspondence fax to 571-558-3312
To obtain the status of a request or ask a question about the FOIA process, you may call the FOIA Requester Service Center at 571-557-2987 or 571-557-2994, or you can email your inquiry to FOIANGA@nga.mil.
The Office of Corporate Communications accepts non-FOIA requests from the news media. Please see the Contact NGA page for more information on how to contact NGA about non-FOIA questions.
The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) was created by statute and came into existence on Oct. 1, 1996. On that date, the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA) and the Central Imagery Office (CIO) were subsumed into NIMA, as were other existing federal entities which provided people and technology to support NIMA's global mission to manage and provide imagery and geospatial information to national policy makers and military forces. When DMA became NIMA, NIMA assumed all of DMA's mission and responsibilities. NIMA changed its name to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on Nov. 24, 2003. All customers of those former agencies can turn to NGA for all of the products and services they received.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
The FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552, provides that any person has a right to existing federal agency records. This right of access is enforceable in court except for those records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions to the FOIA.
FOIA exemptions cover such material as (1) classified national defense and foreign relations information, (2) internal agency personnel rules and practices, (3) material prohibited from disclosure by another law, (4) trade secrets and other confidential business information, (5) certain inter-agency or intra-agency communications, (6) personnel, medical, and other files involving personal privacy, (7) certain records compiled for law enforcement purposes, (8) matters relating to the supervision of financial institutions, and (9) geological information on oil wells.
The FOIA's scope includes Federal Executive Branch Departments, including their offices, and agencies (such as NGA); Federal Regulatory Agencies and Federal Corporations. Congress, the Federal Courts, and parts of the Executive Office of President are not subject to the FOIA. State and local governments are likewise not subject to FOIA, but some states may have their own equivalent access laws for state records.