DoD: Heavily Redacted AARO Portal Documents Released via FOIA
The Department of Defense released heavily censored documents regarding AARO's classified web portal following a transparency request. The two-page response contains mostly illegible images with extensive redactions citing national security exemptions. Officials claimed even unclassified portions could reveal sensitive associations when compiled.
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Background
In September 2024, the DoD responded to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Black Vault on April 25, 2023. The inquiry sought access to the main page and directly linked subpages of AARO's classified collaboration portal, first disclosed during congressional testimony months earlier.
The released materials consist of two heavily redacted images marked with exemption (b)(1) for classified information. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense determined that portions were exempt under Executive Order 13526. Additionally, unclassified sections were withheld under Section 1.7(e), which protects compilations that might reveal classified relationships.
The imagery quality is notably poor, rendering much text unreadable. The Black Vault announced plans to appeal both the extensive censorship and the substandard image quality.
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