## Facts

- AT&T participated in the FCC’s E-Rate program supporting telecommunications services for schools and libraries.
- In 2004, AT&T voluntarily reported to the FCC that it might have overcharged the government under the program.
- The FCC Enforcement Bureau investigated and obtained documents from AT&T, including billing/pricing materials, emails, and information identifying employees and their roles.
- The investigation ended in a consent decree: AT&T paid $500,000 and agreed to a compliance plan without admitting liability.
- A trade association representing some of AT&T’s competitors submitted a FOIA request seeking materials from the FCC’s investigation file.
- The FCC withheld certain information under FOIA Exemption 4 and withheld certain individual-identifying information under Exemption 7(C).
- The FCC declined to withhold information on the theory that AT&T, as a corporation, had “personal privacy” under Exemption 7(C).

## Issues

1. Whether FOIA Exemption 7(C)’s protection against an “unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” applies to corporations.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Third Circuit (Justice Kagan did not participate).
- The Court held that a corporation has no “personal privacy” interest within the meaning of FOIA Exemption 7(C).
- The case was remanded, leaving corporate confidentiality to be addressed, if at all, through other applicable FOIA exemptions.

## Legal Principles

- Statutory terms not expressly defined are generally given their ordinary meaning; “personal” ordinarily refers to human beings, not artificial entities.
- A statutory definition of the noun “person” (including corporations) does not automatically control the meaning of the adjective “personal.”
- In FOIA, “personal privacy” in Exemption 7(C) is limited to the privacy interests of natural persons; corporate reputational or confidentiality concerns do not qualify as “personal privacy” under that exemption.
- Corporate interests may be protected, when appropriate, under other FOIA exemptions (including Exemption 4), but not by extending Exemption 7(C) beyond individual privacy.

## Conclusion

The Court held that FOIA Exemption 7(C) does not extend to corporations because “personal privacy” refers to individual privacy, so agencies cannot withhold law-enforcement records under Exemption 7(C) to protect a corporation’s claimed privacy interests.


FCC v. AT&T Inc., 562 U.S. 397 (2011)