Guarding Trade Secrets

any people are aware of the more frivolous uses of the Freedom of Information Act, and it's true that Elvis Presley and unidentified flying objects are among the most often requested topics. But the law has serious sides. The President's E-FOIA bill-signing statement mentioned citizens, scholars and reporters as those who have obtained "vital and valuable government information" through the law, but many observers say the majority of requests come from businesses gathering information about their competitors. Among the possibilities: Hospitals and pharmacies can request regulators' information about costs in their industry. Companies bidding for federal contracts can request their competitors' proposals, plus the agency's analyses of the bids. When an agency undertakes product tests, the test results can be requested by makers of similar products. Even agency mailing lists can be fair game for savvy business people and lobbying groups.

The FOIA is not supposed to release commercial secrets to the world. Exemption 4 specifically protects from disclosure "trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential." But many a veteran salesman in the federal marketplace can recall receiving a competitor's proposal in response to a FOIA request, thanks presumably to careless processing by the agency. In fact, there have been enough such cases that a provision of the fiscal 1997 Defense authorization act prohibits agencies from releasing most contract proposals.

Deadlines

Oct. 2 - Effective date for extended time limits and other provisions relating to timely agency response

Nov. 1 - Deadline for implementing electronic reading room

Feb. 1, 1999 - Agencies report to Justice on fiscal 1998 FOIA activity

Dec. 31, 1999 - Agencies must make available online index of selected FOIA-disclosed records