Story highlights Keeping the visitor logs private is a break from the previous administration

The Obama administration created that service after lawsuits demanding their release

(CNN) The Trump administration said Friday it will not release logs of White House visitors, breaking with a precedent set by the Obama administration and shrouding Trump's activities in the West Wing in secrecy.

The decision was made in light of the "grave national security risks and privacy concerns of the hundreds of thousands of visitors annually," according to White House Communications Director Michael Dubke.

He said the administration would instead follow a legal precedent based on a 2013 court ruling that determined visitor logs were presidential records and not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.

The move, first reported by Time magazine, is a break from the previous administration, which established a website where users could search records of people cleared into the White House complex for meetings and events.

The Obama administration created that service after lawsuits demanding the release of the visitor records. During his tenure, Obama's administration released millions of visitor records, which are still accessible online. The records were not available instantaneously, however, and often took months before they were posted online.

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