In FOIA Appeal, EPIC Argues for Release of Predictive Analytics Report

EPIC has filed its opening brief in EPIC v. DOJ, a Freedom of Information Act case concerning predictive policing, algorithmic transparency, and executive privilege. EPIC’s case, now before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, seeks the public release of a report on AI techniques in the criminal justice system. Last year, a lower court allowed the agency to assert the “presidential communications privilege” and withhold the report, but neither the D.C. Circuit nor the Supreme Court has ever permitted a federal agency to invoke that privilege. “The records sought in this [FOIA] case concern the use of predictive analytic techniques in the U.S. criminal justice system, a topic of vital public interest,” EPIC wrote. "But the questions presented on appeal have even broader significance for open government.” EPIC has pursued numerous FOIA cases concerning algorithmic transparency, passenger risk assessment, "future crime" prediction, and proprietary forensic analysis.