Alan WernickThe news media, Internet commentators and others have, for some time now, been examining the evolving issues of personal privacy rights, and will continue to do so for some time into the future. Indeed, personal privacy issues must be proactively confronted with critical analysis to better enable a more frictionless environment for the World Wide Web to continue evolving and growing. Whether activity occurs at the local shopping mall or on the Internet, issues concerning personal privacy rights impact that activity in one way or another.

But, what if the activity is done by a corporation – a legal fiction? Do corporations have an expectation of “personal privacy?” Consider the language of the Freedom of Information Act exemption ?7(C). This exemption covers law enforcement records, where the disclosure “could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.” In a recent United States Supreme Court case, FCC vs. AT&T Inc., the Supreme Court held in a unanimous decision that corporations do not have “personal privacy” rights for the purposes of the FOIA exemption ?7(C).

The facts of FCC vs. AT&T revolve around an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that was initiated when AT&T voluntarily reported in August 2004 to the FCC that it might have overcharged the government for services it provided as part of the FCC administered Education Rate program which was created to enhance access for schools and libraries to advanced telecommunications and information services. As part of that investigation, AT&T provided to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau (the Bureau) various documents, including responses to interrogatories, invoices, emails with pricing and billing information, names and job descriptions of employees involved and AT&T's assessment of whether those employees had violated the company's code of conduct. The investigation was resolved in December 2004 through a consent decree in which AT&T, without conceding liability, agreed to pay the government $500,000 and to create a plan to ensure compliance with the program.