You can send a request to any government agency that you think may be spying on you. This may include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, and local law enforcement agencies. For more information about how these agencies may be spying on peaceful protest activity, visit www.aclu.org/spyfiles.

The agencies you choose to request information from may depend on the reason you suspect you have been subjected to government surveillance. For example, documents obtained by the ACLU have shown that the FBI and local law enforcement agencies have targeted political protest groups and certain religious groups for surveillance and infiltration. The media has reported that the Department of Defense maintains records on anti-war groups and groups who protest abusive military recruiting tactics.

It is important to remember that if you are requesting records from a federal government agency (for example, the FBI or Department of Defense), you must file a request under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). If you are requesting records from a state or local agency (for example, your state or local police department), you must file a request under the New York Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

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