Books: Activists and Files Tell Story of FBI-Led "Surveillance Society"

Read the story of the FBI's intelligence activities on U.S. political activists in a new book that looks at the spying through the eyes of people under surveillance. The Dangers of Dissent: The FBI and Civil Liberties Since 1965 relies on first-hand accounts and government documents obtained through FOI requests and litigation to tell the tale of the new U.S. "surveillance society."

Books: New FOI Legal Guide

FOI users in the U.S. will be interested in a new book from the Electronic Privacy Information Center: Litigation Under the Federal Open Government Laws, 2010. Highly useful guide for FOI-using journalists and litigators.

Investigations: Staff Blows Whistle on Whistle-Blower Protection Commish

Big kerfuffle over the sudden retirement of Canada's whistle-blower protection commissioner Christiane Ouimet amid an investigation of her office by Auditor General Sheila Fraser. Ouimet was apparently embroiled in an internal staff revolt after she found not one case of wrongdoing or reprisal in the entire 400,000-member federal civil service during her three years in office. I reported on complaints about Ouimet's office in this Montreal Gazette story in August.

The end for Ouimet came when her own staff finally blew the whistle on her. They complained about the working environment in her office and the lack of proactive investigations of whistle-blower complaints. Eighteen of 22 employees in her office quit in the past year, according to one report. Read more in this CBC item.