Is the presidents browser and search history a public record?

June 1, 2017 10:11 PM

under the PRC? on mobile and desktop?
posted by specialk420 to Law & Government (5 answers total)

This is not my area of specific expertise as a records manager, but my guess is that this information would be exempt from public disclosure under FOIA exemption number 5, which in some cases exempts deliberative process and predecisional material (link). There may be other laws that would protect its disclosure as well, but that's the one that comes to mind right now. I'm usually pretty big on transparency, but this is not a precedent I would be in favor of establishing.
posted by backwards compatible at 4:43 AM on June 2, 2017

Maybe undr Presidential Records Act, but not under FOIA. FOIA applies only to executive branch government agencies. That does include the Executive Office of the President, but not the President themselves. See full rundown here. So the President's search history would not be covered, even if FOIA is determined to extend to search histories. I don't believe that has been thoroughly tested. The question is whether a search or browser history constitutes a "record" subject to disclosure in the same way an email is.
posted by beagle at 5:12 AM on June 2, 2017

Best answer: Circling back here. See the definition of Presidential records in the PRA here. There's no real clarity there with regard to things like browser histories, but my guess is that they would be considered "personal" or unrelated to carrying out official duties. Being largely ephemeral and not easily downloaded or read, browser histories are probably not saved and archived anywhere in the government except perhaps the NSA and such.

In any case, under the PRA, even if they were deemed to be Presidential records, browser and search histories would not be made available under FOIA until 5 years after the end of a President's term, and the President could invoke a restriction extending that to 12 years.

So, maybe a public record, probably not, and not accessible for a long time. Subpoenas would be a different matter, however.
posted by beagle at 12:21 PM on June 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Great answers all... what if they were involved in a commission of a crime? Could google or any other search provider be compelled to provide the aformentioned? Email + text + browser history and you pretty much know what a person has been up to and scarily even thinking about.
posted by specialk420 at 6:21 PM on June 2, 2017

IANAL but I think that in court, things like browser history would not be admissible as evidence of criminal activity, except maybe in child porn or terrorism situations.
posted by beagle at 5:51 AM on June 3, 2017