BREAKING: EPIC Sues OPM for Records on OPM’s Information Security and Employee Privacy Practices 

Last Friday, EPIC sued the Office of Personnel Management under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) after the agency failed to respond to EPIC’s requests for records concerning OPM’s information security and worker privacy practices.  

As the complaint explains, EPIC submitted two FOIA requests to OPM. EPIC sent the first request after an anonymous employee revealed that OPM’s leadership was sending broad information requests to federal agencies and directing agencies to send employee information to an individual that lacks proper security clearances. After DOGE installed its government-wide email system at OPM, EPIC submitted a second request seeking documentation that OPM followed the required information security procedures for the email system and other databases.  

Despite multiple attempts to communicate with OPM, EPIC’s requests are unanswered. Now it is reported that OPM’s FOIA team has been fired. OPM violated FOIA when it failed to meet deadlines, improperly withheld agency records, and fired the staff who have worked diligently for decades to uphold a transparent government.  

Over 2.3 million Americans are employed by the federal government, and countless more have applied to or retired from federal positions. OPM houses information on them all. The public deserves to know how OPM is protecting the information it is entrusted with. EPIC is working hard to shed light on the practices of OPM and other agencies.