Massive Blue (United States Customs and Border Protection)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
CBP-FO-2025-025656 |
| Multi Request | Massive Blue |
| Submitted | Nov. 14, 2024 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Jason Koebler
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Public reports state that departments in you state have partnered with Massive Blue, an AI company (discussed at recent county council meeting).
Therefore, I hereby request the following records:
1) All instructional materials, presentations and presentation materials (including recorded video and audio, PowerPoint files, prepared remarks, and slides formats), and other guidance on the use of Massive Blue, "Overwatch," VIPS (Virtual Investigator Protection Service), RADAR: (Realtime active data aggregation reporter), and/or ITFM System (Investigative Task Force multiplier). This includes A) any notes taken during meetings that discussed the use of Massive Blue/Overwatch, B) any explanations (whether internally or externally generated) of how Massive Blue/Overwatch works, and C) any other document that has been used to help explain the use of Massive Blue/Overwatch, including internal documentation, public relations materials, and executive summaries.
2) A copy of any privacy impact assessments, use policies, technical explainers or assessments, standard operating procedures, data retention policies, legal opinions or assessments, warranties, non-disclosure agreements, contracts, liability waivers, insurance agreements, Requests for Proposals, Responses to Requests for Proposal, Memorandums of Understanding, Letters of Interest, usage policies, or informal agreements between the police department/this office and Massive Blue.
3) A copy of any funding opportunity announcements, grant applications and grantor status/progress reports, reports to legislative bodies, annual reports that mention Massive Blue/Overwatch, as well as audit records, including but not limited to security audits of the software, misuse reports, and reports to oversight bodies.
4) Any digital communications including but not limited to emails and text messages) as well as documents, (including but not limited to PDF, word processing, excel, and slide documents) that mention Massive Blue or sent to/from email addresses with the @massiveblue.ai domain.
5) Any case reports in which Overwatch/Massive Blue was used.
6) Any digital communications (including but not limited to emails and text messages) with Massive Blue representatives.
7) Any digital communications / presentations / contracts (including but not limited to emails and text messages) with employees of the Arizona Department of Public Safety about this project.
Please try to include any other miscellaneous documents that facilitate this department's relationship with Massive Blue or overwatch that don't neatly fall neatly into the above categories. Please search between January 1, 2023 and the time this request is published.
The requested documents will be used in the course of reporting for 404 Media, an independent technology journalism website: www.404media.co
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Jason Koebler
From: United States Customs and Border Protection
Jason Koebler
n/a
MuckRock News, DEPT MR176331
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
11/20/2024
CBP-FO-2025-025656
Dear Jason Koebler:
This notice acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) received on 11/19/2024. Please use the following unique FOIA tracking number CBP-FO-2025-025656 to track the status of your request. If you have not already done so, you must create a SecureRelease account. This is the only method available to check the status of your pending FOIA request.
Provisions of the Act allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. We shall charge you for records in accordance with the DHS FOIA regulations outlined on the DHS website, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/22/2016-28095/freedom-of-information-act-regulations. By submitting your request, you have agreed to pay up to $25.00 in applicable processing fees, if any fees associated with your request exceed this amount, CBP shall contact you.
Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Consistent with 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, CBP processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although CBP’s goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, FOIA does permit a 10-day extension of this time period in certain circumstances pursuant to 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(c). As your request seeks documents that will require a thorough and wide-ranging search, CBP will invoke a 10-day extension for your request pursuant to 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(c). If you would like to narrow the scope of your request, please contact our office. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner.
CBP’s FOIA Division is working hard to reduce the amount of time necessary to respond to FOIA requests. We truly appreciate your continued patience.
For additional information please consult CBP FOIA website please click on FOIA Act Resources or visit http://www.cbp.gov/site-policy-notices/foia.
Please note that this message has been sent from an unmonitored e-mail account. Any messages sent to this account will not be read.
Sincerely,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
From: United States Customs and Border Protection
Jason Koebler
n/a
MuckRock News, DEPT MR176331
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
11/26/2024
CBP-FO-2025-025656
Dear Jason Koebler,
This is a final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requesting CBP maintained records. Specifically, you requested To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) All instructional materials, presentations and presentation materials (including recorded video and audio, PowerPoint files, prepared remarks, and slides formats), and other guidance on the use of Massive Blue, "Overwatch," VIPS (Virtual Investigator Protection Service), RADAR: (Realtime active data aggregation reporter), and/or ITFM System (Investigative Task Force multiplier). This includes A) any notes taken during meetings that discussed the use of Massive Blue/Overwatch, B) any explanations (whether internally or externally generated) of how Massive Blue/Overwatch works, and C) any other document that has been used to help explain the use of Massive Blue/Overwatch, including internal documentation, public relations materials, and executive summaries.
2) A copy of any privacy impact assessments, use policies, technical explainers or assessments, standard operating procedures, data retention policies, legal opinions or assessments, warranties, non-disclosure agreements, contracts, liability waivers, insurance agreements, Requests for Proposals, Responses to Requests for Proposal, Memorandums of Understanding, Letters of Interest, usage policies, or informal agreements between the police department/this office and Massive Blue.
3) A copy of any funding opportunity announcements, grant applications and grantor status/progress reports, reports to legislative bodies, annual reports that mention Massive Blue/Overwatch, as well as audit records, including but not limited to security audits of the software, misuse reports, and reports to oversight bodies.
4) Any digital communications including but not limited to emails and text messages) as well as documents, (including but not limited to PDF, word processing, excel, and slide documents) that mention Massive Blue or sent to/from email addresses with the @massiveblue.ai domain.
5) Any case reports in which Overwatch/Massive Blue was used.
6) Any digital communications (including but not limited to emails and text messages) with Massive Blue representatives.
7) Any digital communications / presentations / contracts (including but not limited to emails and text messages) with employees of the Arizona Department of Public Safety about this project.
We conducted a comprehensive search of files within the CBP databases for records that would be responsive to your request. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate or identify any responsive records, based upon the information you provided in your request. If you wish to re-submit your request, please provide further details such as a contract number, specific offices or email domains where you believe this technology is being used or discussed. Additionally, you may wish to contact the county council for transcripts of their meeting to gain further information that could narrow the scope of this request.
Note: CBP does not have complete records of apprehensions made by Border Patrol before 2000. Records of apprehensions made by Border Patrol before 2000 may be available in the A-File maintained by USCIS.
This completes the CBP response to your request. You may contact CBP's FOIA Public Liaison, Charlyse Hoskins, by sending an email via your SecureRelease account, mailing a letter to 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW MS 1181, Washington DC, 20229 or by calling 202-325-0150. (If you need telecommunication relay service (TRS) assistance to communicate with the CBP FOIA Office and you are in the United States, please dial 711 to obtain TRS assistance and notify the Communications Assistant that you want to contact the CBP FOIA Office at the telephone number (202) 325-0150). The FOIA Public Liaison is able to assist in advising on the requirements for submitting a request, assist with narrowing the scope of a request, assist in reducing delays by advising the requester on the type of records to request, suggesting agency offices that may have responsive records and receive questions or concerns about the agency’s FOIA process. Please notate file number CBP-FO-2025-025656 on any future correspondence to CBP related to this request.
For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. 552(c). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not, exist.
If you are not satisfied with the response to this request, you have a right to appeal the final disposition. Should you wish to do so, you must file your appeal within 90 days of the date of this letter following the procedures outlined in the DHS regulations at Title 6 C.F.R. §5.8. Please include as much information as possible to help us understand the grounds for your appeal. You should submit your appeal via SecureRelease. If you do not have computer access, you may send your appeal and a copy of this letter to: FOIA Appeals, Policy and Litigation Branch, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 90 K Street, NE, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20229-1177. Your envelope and letter should be marked "FOIA Appeal." Copies of the FOIA and DHS regulations are available at www.dhs.gov/foia. Additional information can be found at the following link https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Dec/definitions-exemptions-foia_0.pdf.
Additionally, you have a right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.
Please note that this message has been sent from an unmonitored e-mail account. Any messages sent to this account will not be read.
Sincerely,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection