Exemptions

Introduction
FOIA contains a number of exemptions that permit agencies to withhold responsive records or portions thereof in response to a request.

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has held that the redaction of non-responsive material within records that are otherwise responsive is improper. "[O]nce an agency itself identifies a particular document or collection of material—such as a chain of emails—as a responsive 'record,' the only information the agency may redact from that record is that falling within one of the statutory exemptions."

List of Exemptions
Visit the following pages to read about FOIA's exemptions in more detail:
 * Exemption 1
 * Exemption 2
 * Exemption 3
 * Exemption 4
 * Exemption 5
 * Exemption 6
 * Exemption 7
 * Exemption 8
 * Exemption 9