Supreme Court Rules Corporations Do Not Have Privacy Rights Protected by FOIA
Today in a unanimous decision the Supreme Court ruled that corporations do not have privacy rights protected by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The case, Federal Communications Comm’n v. AT&T, presented the issue of whether portions of documents AT&T had provided to the FCC as part of an investigation were properly withheld under Exemption 7(C) of the FOIA because their release would constitute “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” in the words of the FOIA. The Supreme Court said no, pointing out the many linguistic and legal differences between “person,” a term that includes corporations under the FOIA, and “personal,” which by usage and context clearly is limited to individuals. CREW on behalf of itself and a number of other good government groups had submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case arguing that the FOIA does not protect the privacy of corporations.
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May 18, 2012
Thanks for the Notice, House Ethics
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