A study completed for the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Conference last week found that federal agencies are increasingly using privacy exemptions when denying requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The study, which examined FOIA annual reports from the 13 Cabinet-level departments in existence as of September 30, 2002, reported that over the past five years almost two out of three request denials cited privacy exemptions. National security claims, which might have been expected to increase over the past year and a half, were only asserted in 1 percent of all denials. Within the nine exemptions under FOIA, two are connected to privacy issues. The first, exemption 6, prevents release of “personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” The next, exemption 7 (c), protects information that “could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” Although these exemptions are clear indicators that privacy is an important issue, many believe the government is abusing the provisions in order to hide records that should be available to the public. Even privacy advocates have questioned some of the administration’s actions in the name of privacy -- for example, the refusal to release the names of detainees after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mark Corallo, a Justice Department spokesman, has stated there has been no change in policy or Bush administration directives to account for the large number of denials. This, however, runs contrary to the fact that the Aschcroft memo, issued in October of 2001, has severely affected FOIA policy and has caused a chilling effect on information disclosure. This memo instructs FOIA officers to carefully consider FOIA requests and withhold information whenever they believe necessary, in light of national security concerns. Although the number of denials based on national security has remained rather low, Corallo did say that matters sensitive to national security would be withheld for privacy reasons if those concerns were also present. Many times the national security exemption is not cited as being part of the reason for denial, although all exemptions are required to be listed. The Justice Department is the largest user of the privacy exemption with other government bodies like the Pentagon using the exemption for a large number of their inquiries. The overuse of privacy protections for withholding information under FOIA has the potential to weaken privacy given that overuse and false claims undermine its legitimacy. Even more troubling is the glaring evidence that the government is abusing its ability to withhold information from the public and therefore is left unaccountable for its actions.