NARA · NARA - 0011 · record R3207

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Discovery AI Pilot

National Archives and Records Administration · National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)

Overview

Development stage: In development or acquisitionSource: a) Pre-deployment – The use case is in a development or acquisition status.
High-impact designation: Not high-impactSource: c) Not high-impact
Impact justification: Not reported
Start date: 2026-12-01 (day precision)Source: 2026-12-01T00:00:00
Withheld from public reporting: NoSource: a) No

Mission

Topic area: Other
Operational functions: FOIA and records management Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

The AI is intended to solve the problem of larger FOIA backlogs and manual review bottlenecks by automating the discovery of relevant records and the redaction of sensitive data, ensuring responses are both rapid and compliant with privacy laws.

Expected benefits

NARA is piloting the use of AI to improve its responses to Freedom of Information Act requests. This includes AI tools for finding relevant records and automatically redacting sensitive information, which will make the process faster, more accurate, and compliant with privacy laws.

System outputs

This AI use case will output relevant records matching FOIA requests and redacted versions of those records with sensitive information removed.

Technology

AI classification: Natural language processingSource: Natural Language Processing: AI that processes, interprets, and shares information in human language.
System name(s): Not reported
Custom-developed code: Yes
Public source code: Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built: Developed in-houseSource: b) Developed in-house
Vendor (as reported): Not reported
Vendors (standardized): None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII: No
Privacy Impact Assessment: Not reported
Authorization to Operate: No
Demographic features: k) None of the above
Training and evaluation data: NARA will train this AI use case based on previous FOIA requests that were released to public
Federal Data Catalog: Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Pre-deployment testingNo answer reported

AI impact assessmentNo answer reported

Independent reviewNo answer reported

Ongoing monitoringNo answer reported

Operator trainingNo answer reported

Fail-safeNo answer reported

Appeal processNo answer reported

User and public consultationNo answer reported

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported