Robot Lawyer Startup DoNotPay Now Lets You File FOIA Requests
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Robot lawyer startup DoNotPay now lets you file FOIA requests - TechCrunch:
DoNotPay, the consumer advice company that started out helping people easily challenge parking tickets, has come a long way since it launched. It's expanded to help consumers cancel memberships, claim compensation for missed flights and even sue companies for small claims. In the early days of the pandemic, the startup helped its users file for unemployment, where many state benefit sites crashed.
Now the so-called "robot lawyer" has a new trick. The startup now lets you request information from U.S. federal and state government agencies under the Freedom of Information Act.
[...] That's where DoNotPay wants to help. The new feature guides you through how to file a request for information, as well as wrangle the fee waivers and option to expedite processing - which is up to you to convince the government department why you should get the information for free and faster than regular FOIA requests. (In reality, the FOIA system is massively under-resourced, and responses can take months or years to get back.) After asking you a series of questions and what you want to request, DoNotPay generates a formal FOIA request letter using your answers and files it to the government agency on your behalf.
DoNotPay's founder and chief executive Joshua Browder said he's hoping the new feature can help consumers "beat bureaucracy."
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