About FOIA

The FOIA gives any person the right to request access to records of the Executive Branch of the United States Government. The records requested must be disclosed unless they are protected by one or more of the exempt categories of information found in the FOIA. Records that, generally, may be protected from disclosure are: Properly classified material; limited kinds of purely internal matters; matters exempt from disclosure by other statutes; trade secrets or commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential; internal agency communications that represent the deliberative, pre- decisional process, attorney work product, or attorney-client records; information that would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; law enforcement records to the extent that one of six specific harms could result from disclosure; bank examination records; and oil well and similar information.

Notwithstanding the above protections, the FOIA requires Federal agencies to provide the fullest possible disclosure of information to the public. Administrative and judicial remedies are available to those persons denied access to records.

Last Updated: December 23, 2005