[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 484 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 484

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to clarify the personal privacy 
              exemption in the Freedom of Information Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 26, 2011

  Mr. Deutch (for himself and Mr. Grijalva) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 
                                 Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to clarify the personal privacy 
              exemption in the Freedom of Information Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Personal Privacy Clarification 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552, 
        requires a Federal agency to disclose records or information in 
        its possession that have been compiled for law enforcement 
        purposes. The Act provides exemptions from this mandatory 
        disclosure requirement, including for ``an unwarranted invasion 
        of personal privacy.'' 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552(b)(7)(C).
            (2) In AT&T Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission, the 
        Third Circuit Court of Appeals extended the privacy exemption 
        in section 552(b)(7)(C) to corporations. This decision 
        misinterprets the intent of Congress to limit the privacy 
        exemption to individuals, not to corporations.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to respond to the Third 
Circuit Court of Appeals decision by clarifying that the intent of the 
privacy exemption in section 552(b)(7(C) of the Freedom of Information 
Act is to provide a privacy exemption for individuals, not for 
corporations.

SEC. 3. CLARIFICATION OF PRIVACY EXEMPTION.

    Section 552(b)(7)(C) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``personal privacy'' and inserting ``the privacy of any 
individual''.
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