To Whom it May Concern:

This is in response to the NSA’s letter dated December 19, 2013 regarding FOIA case number 75386. I would like to clarify my request and appeal your determination that I am an “all other” requester for fee purposes.

Firstly, since the completion of my original request appears to be burdensome, if possible I ask that you please provide an index of the file on Glimmerglass. File indexes are a standard records keeping practice when dealing with large amounts of documents and usually include the date of the document, the document title, a description of the document, and the author. As a courtesy I also ask that you provide free of charge the documents retrieved in the two hours of search time referenced in the December 19 letter.

If an index cannot be provided, please continue with the processing of the original request for contracts and reports. If my appeal of the fee waiver (below) is not approved I am willing to pay up to $300 and may pay additional fees if I am provided with an estimate of the remaining cost.

Secondly, I am appealing your determination that I do not qualify for a fee waiver. In response to your points:

My Personal Qualifications and the Nature of My Research-

I am a trained paralegal with a background in legal research. Additionally I have experience in interpreting contracts and invoices, and experience in technology applications. I have established a project at MuckRock looking into the activities of the NSA and other intelligence agencies. Despite the short time I have been making and publishing requests through MuckRock, this project has garnered impressive media attention and was recently written up in Forbes. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/runasandvik/2013/11/26/illuminating-the-united-states-billion-dollar-intelligence-budget-project-spylighter-documents-surveillance-technology-used-by-the-nsa/) The Forbes article was covered in several other media outlets, and even reported in Spanish. (http://www.desdeabajo.info/actualidad/internacional/item/23165-spylighter-documenta-la-compra-de-tecnolog%C3%ADa-de-vigilancia-masiva-por-parte-de-la-nsa.html)

I am now working with Runa Sandvik (the author of the article at Forbes) on another article regarding the responses I have received to my FOIA requests.

This Information Will be Widely Disseminated and Analyzed-

All documents released to MuckRock are published on the MuckRock website. The documents are not merely posted, but analyzed by journalists at MuckRock and media outlets around the world. MuckRock has over 1,000 active users and tens of thousands of readers. An incomplete list of outlets reporting news broken at MuckRock can be found here:

https://pinboard.in/u:morisy/t:muckrock_press/

My first successful request to the NSA for contracts with Vupen was widely reported. There was significant interest in the fact that the NSA was purchasing exploits services from a foreign contractor. A few examples of press regarding that release are below:

Threatpost: http://threatpost.com/nsa-bought-exploit-service-from-vupen-contract-shows

Gawker: http://gawker.com/nsa-paid-french-hackers-for-software-exploits-1341604032

The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/17/nsa_vupen/

Information Week: http://www.informationweek.com/security/government/nsa-contracted-with-zero-day-vendor-vupe/240161389

Computing: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2295155/nsa-bought-zero-day-vulnerabilities-from-security-company-vupen

Slate: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/09/17/nsa_paid_french_hacker_company_vupen_for_software_exploits.html

RT: http://rt.com/usa/nsa-vupen-exploit-hack-978/

Mashable: http://mashable.com/2013/09/17/nsa-french-hacking-tools-vupen/

The Hacker News: http://thehackernews.com/2013/09/nsa-bought-hacking-tools-from-vupen.html

The Daily Dot: http://www.dailydot.com/politics/nsa-malware-vupen/

Spiegel: http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/nsa-kauft-infos-ueber-sicherheitsluecken-von-vupen-a-922765.html

This Information Does Contribute to the Public Understanding-

With the release of the Snowden materials and the surrounding media coverage, the past few months have demonstrated a significant increase in the public’s interest in the activities of the NSA and other intelligence agencies. The release of details regarding the NSA’s “black budget” has been one of the biggest stories to break this year. It is in the public interest to understand how that money is being spent, and the relationship of the NSA with its private contractors.

Thank you for your time and consideration of this appeal.

Sincerely,

Heather Akers-Healy