Ryan Shapiro is a transparency activist and PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Science, Technology, & Society (HASTS). Ryan’s research focuses on the political functioning of national security and the policing of dissent. To this end, he currently has over 700 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in motion with the FBI, making him the FBI’s “most prolific” FOIA requestor. Ryan also has numerous FOIA requests in motion with the CIA, DIA, and NSA, as well as a host of active lawsuits against these agencies for their routine failure to comply with his FOIA requests. The FBI is even now arguing in court that Ryan’s dissertation FOIA research itself is a threat to national security.