If you’ve ever been curious, really curious, about the inner workings of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, then you’re in luck. The CBP announced Monday that they have upgraded their systems to allow for public access to their documents and records via the FOIA Electronic Reading Room. Previously these documents were only obtainable with a Freedom of Information Act request.

For the many businesses and individuals who deal with the CBP on a regular basis, this is welcome news.  FOIA requests are notoriously slow and the system was not adequate in an age when instant communication is the norm. The CBP along with other federal agencies are looking for ways to bring themselves into the 21st century and to a place where transparency is the standard.

“We want to be using technology to bring more accessibility to documents,” CBP spokesperson Tara Dunlop told OhMyGov. The push toward information sharing at CBP keys off of President Obama’s repeated calls for more transparency in government.

The agency will allow only certain categories of records to be made available on the FOIA reading room website. A dropdown menu allows you to choose from congressional correspondence, contracts, final opinions, manuals, policies, and significant records of interest. The latter category provides the most interesting reading material, giving you a heretofore hard-to-get look inside the daily business of protecting our borders

“CBP is striving to boost agency transparency and accountability, while promoting efficiency and effectiveness through the use of technology,” said Acting Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern. The new system of making records available to the public will not however be a complete free-for-all. The updated FOIA reading room will still follow FOIA requirements in regard to what can be legally released.