Informational Privacy

Know the definitions and rules. Be able to correctly recognize and apply them in hypothetical situations.

• Define informational privacy.

• Is the right of privacy an absolute right? What social values compete with it when the public requests access to government-held records?

• What are the public's common law, statutory, and constitutional rights to access government records?

• What are the public's common law, statutory, and constitutional rights of informational privacy?

• Does the press have a greater First Amendment right of access to government records than the public?
  • Procunier v. Pell (1974), Saxbe v. Washington Post (1974), and Houchins v. KQED (1978)

• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
  • Its purpose.
  • What does it require?
  • Whom does it cover?
  • Whom does it not cover?
  • Exemption 6 and Exemption 7

• Electronic Freedom of Information Act

• Privacy Act of 1974
  • What concerns led to the passage of this statute? What is its purpose?
  • What does it require that is different from the FOIA?
  • To which branches of the federal government does it apply or not apply?
  • What are agencies required to do?
  • What are agencies forbidden from doing?
  • Individuals are guaranteed what three rights under the Privacy Act?

• Why it is wiser for bureaucrats to withhold data and risk a lawsuit under the FOIA rather than the Privacy Act?
• How has the Supreme Court balanced the FOIA and Privacy Act?
• What did the Court conclude and hold in Justice Department v. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (1989)?
  • How did that opinion differ from lower court rulings regarding the FOIA and privacy?
  • Explain the practical obscurity doctrine.

• Driver's Privacy Protection Act (See Pember, pp. 257)
  • Do drivers have a reasonable expectation of privacy in motor vehicle records?

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