What Is FOIA? FAQs - Are some kinds of information not available?

Are some kinds of information not available?
Although the goal of FOIA is full disclosure of government records, Congress concluded that some confidentiality is necessary for the government to function.

The FOIA does not apply to the following federal entities -

Congress

The Federal Courts

Executive Office staff such as the White House Chief of Staff and others whose sole function is to advise and assist the president

Requests cannot be made under the FOIA to the following, as the Act only applies to federal government agencies. -

State and local government agencies

Private businesses

Schools

Private organizations

Private individual records

Some information is exempt from FOIA. There are nine legal categories that are exempted from FOIA under section 552(b) of the law. Exemptions >>

The FOIA requires an agency to provide you with a "reasonably segregable" (easy to excerpt) portion of a record after the portions which are exempt have been deleted from it. This means an agency can't withhold an entire document just because some portions of the document are exempt.

It is important to remember that these exemptions are not mandatory, but discretionary. That means an agency can choose to release records to you even after it has determined the records fall within one or more of the above exemptions.