It is critically important to obtain and publicize declassified government intelligence documents in order to demystify official narratives of domestic security. Over the last decade, Ivan received about 60 FBI files by using the Freedom of Information Act and by initiating a lawsuit, while writing two books on civil liberties and surveillance. He will discuss his experiences getting government documents and show how new information about surveillance practices can help the American people make better informed judgments about how surveillance systems are developed and deployed. Is it possible for popular democratic participation in the operation of surveillance systems? Whose security is really at stake? How can we counter the creation of a top-down, official “culture of insecurity?”