What is the status of the legal position that the Privacy Act can serve as an Exemption 3 statute under the FOIA?
This position is now expressly precluded by statute. More than two years ago, the Department of
Justice determined to advance in the courts the argument that information exempt from a
first-party requester under the Privacy Act was also therefore withholdable under the FOIA's
Exemption 3; this position, though, was never applied at the administrative level. See FOIA
Update, Spring 1983, at 3. Eventually, there arose a conflict among the circuit courts of appeals
on this issue and the Supreme Court agreed to decide it in the consolidated Provenzano and
Shapiro cases. See FOIA Update, Spring 1984, at 13. However, as part of the recently enacted
Central Intelligence Agency Information Act, Congress unequivocally specified that the Privacy
Act may not serve as an Exemption 3 statute under the FOIA. See Pub. L. 98-477, 98 Stat. 2209,
Sec. 2(c) (effective Oct. 15, 1984) (amending subsection (q) of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C.
Does the new Federal Acquisition Regulation affect the possible applicability of Exemption 4 to unit prices contained in government contracts?
Yes. In 1983, the Office of Information and Privacy formally advised federal
agencies to be cautious in considering Exemption 4 protection for unit prices
contained in awarded government contracts; at the same time, it was recognized
that in exceptional situations a submitter might be able to demonstrate that
disclosure of its unit prices would cause substantial competitive harm cognizable
under Exemption 4. See FOIA Update, Fall 1983, at 10-11. However, the
new Federal Acquisition Regulation -- which was promulgated jointly by the Department
of Defense, the General Services Administration and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration to govern the federal procurement process governmentwide
-- has virtually eliminated that possibility. This new regulation mandates,
for all contracts awarded in excess of $10,000, the automatic disclosure of
unit prices to all unsuccessful bidders (with very limited exceptions) through
an extensive post-award notice process. See 48 Fed. Reg. 42102, 42218
(1983) (to be codified at 48 C.F.R.
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