Create governance-site/wiki/hf-cia-fbi-search-explanation.md

governance-site/wiki/hf-cia-fbi-search-explanation.md

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+# CIA / FBI FOIA Search Behavior – Reviewer Explanation
+
+## Summary
+This application does **not** scrape, crawl, or ingest CIA or FBI records.
+It performs **link-out search redirection only** to official FOIA reading rooms.
+
+## Why searches redirect instead of embedding results
+CIA and FBI FOIA systems:
+• Do not expose stable public document APIs  
+• Require agency-controlled navigation context  
+• Frequently change internal query parameters  
+• Serve results dynamically (JS / POST-backed)
+
+Embedding or simulating document retrieval would:
+• Risk misrepresentation of official records
+• Bypass agency-controlled context
+• Violate FOIA reading room terms
+
+## Court-Safe Design Choice
+The tool therefore:
+• Embeds the search term into the official search URL
+• Redirects the user directly to the agency site
+• Preserves agency custody and presentation
+• Provides cryptographic hashes only for citation reference
+
+This behavior is intentional, conservative, and governance-first.