Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Public Information Session: The Postal Service’s FOIA Process

The Postal Service’s Ethics & Legal Compliance team will be hosting a teleconference open to the public on navigating the FOIA process. The teleconference will cover how to submit a FOIA request, where to submit a FOIA request, and how to properly describe the records sought in a FOIA request. Please join us on Friday, March 8, 2024, at 2 p.m. EST for an informational session on the Postal Service’s FOIA process.

To join the teleconference, please call 503-336-1236 and enter the Meeting ID 161 912 9469 and the Password 662785 when prompted.

I signed this measure with a deep sense of pride that the United States is an open society in which the people's right to know is cherished and guarded.

Lyndon B. Johnson

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that provides the public with a right to access government records. The purpose of the law is to ensure an informed citizenry by providing the public with access to information that sheds light on an agency’s performance of its statutory duties. The FOIA provides that any person may ask any federal agency for records and that the agency must provide those records, unless an exemption applies or the records fall outside the coverage of the FOIA.

Feature sections

Make a Request

Access information on how to make a request online or by mail, including who to contact with questions and how to request special categories of information.

Identity Certification
Are you requesting records about yourself? Please complete this form to certify your identity and submit the form with your request for records.

Privacy Waiver
Are you requesting records about another individual? That individual will need to complete this form authorizing the Postal Service to disclose records about that individual to you. Please submit the completed form with your request for records.

Resources

Explore these links to Postal Service policies and regulations, the FOIA and Privacy Act statutes, and external resources.

FOIA Library

The FOIA Library contains records that are routinely made available to the public, as well as documents frequently requested under the FOIA. Before making a request, check here to see if the record you are looking for is already publically available.

Systems of Records/Major Information Systems

Browse an index of the Postal Service’s System of Records and Major Information Systems.

FAQs

Look here for answers to frequently asked questions.