If you’ve ever submitted a Freedom of Information Act request (FOIA), you’re familiar with the heavy-handed redactions of some organizations.
How do you access what’s behind the redactions?
Often, the answer is: You can’t. The redactions aren’t reversible. But, sometimes . . .
Depending on the skills of the FOIA officer, how it was saved, and so on, it is possible to access what’s hidden behind all the black.
To do this, you’ll need to look at the hidden information in the document.
The video below shows a Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) document and how I accessed the hidden information to find out what was redacted. In the case of this document, the reasons for the redactions are unclear. It actually seems like information that should be public.
Click on the image below to watch the video and/or watch it on YouTube.
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