White House officials are using the Intelligence Reauthorization Act of 2010 to propose a new  exemption to the a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for “watch list” data that would end disclosure through FOIA requests. Citing excessive errors in national security watch lists and other privacy concerns, advocacy organizations have written to Congressional leaders, urging rejection of the proposal.

A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told the Washington Post that the exemption would provide “adequate protection from disclosing terrorist identity information” to the public. The information would still be distributed to national law enforcement agencies and fusion centers by the Terrorist Screening Center.

FOIA requests have played a significant role in uncovering illegal government surveillance programs as well as spotlighting use of fusion centers to monitor citizen free speech. For example:

Transparency rights’ advocates say this measure is a step in the wrong direction. Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, said, “Instead of enhancing accountability, this would remove accountability.” Other critics believe it would make the process of removing an improperly named person from the list nearly impossible.

On Sept. 8, 2009, several privacy and transparency groups sent a letter to chief members of the Senate and House intelligence committees that sought the removal of the measure. Led by OpenTheGovernment.org, the groups’ letter called the provision “unnecessary, overbroad and unwise,” and outlined how increased secrecy will not improve security and could lead to incorrect information being used in an investigation.

The letter said, “[W]atchlists are an area of particular concern justifying greater openness, not less. It is well-documented that the watchlists are replete with errors. It is also well-documented that the current redress process is cumbersome and slow. The FOIA and Privacy Act processes may provide a crucial opportunity for persons mistakenly listed to clear their names. Any further barriers to redress should be narrowly drawn.”

Both the Senate and House bills are still in their respective committees and no date has been set for future action.