FOIA b(3) Exemptions

Dept. of Treasury FOIA Exemptions

69.6
Use Rate 		4,546.0
Total claims 		6,531
Denials

Dept. of Treasury Annual Reports: '08 |
The Dept. of Treasury used b(3) exemptions to withhold information from FOIA requesters 6,531 times in 2008-2009.

Category

  • All
  • Crimes and Criminal Procedure
  • Government Organization and Employees
  • Internal Revenue Code
  • Money and Finance
  • Other
  • Public Contracts
Statute Description Claims
26 USC 6103 Tax return information 4,059.0
31 USC 5319 Generally used to withhold Currency Transaction Reports 304.0
18 USC 701 Official Badges, identification cards. Prohibits the reproduction of official identification media. Used to withhold copies of IRS employee identification badges and pocket commissions. 69.0
31 USC 5318(g)(3) Bank Secrecy Act records 56.0
FRCP 6(e) Grand Jury Information 35.0
41 USC 253b(m) Proposals submitted by unsuccessful contract bidders 11.0
26 USC 6105 Confidential information from treaty obligations 8.0
5 USC 7114(b)(4) Collective Bargaining 2.0
18 USC 504 Illustrations of Stamp in digital quality photos 1.0
26 USC 7602(c)(3)(B) Third party identity information 1.0

About This Project

This project uses data compiled by the Sunshine in Government initiative, a coalition of journalism and transparency groups. SGI compiled data from federal agency annual FOIA reports to track how often b(3) exemptions were used. SGI also standardized the exemptions since some agencies used slightly different citations of the same laws. In some cases, agencies listed general laws without specifying a section under which information was withheld. This project does not include information from agencies that use no b(3) exemptions in 2008 or 2009. ProPublica compiled information about FOIA denials.

FOIA Resources