II.2.3 National Security Exemption

Public access to data that is contemplated and provided for under the new law would not threaten national security interests or public safety. Data relating to the government's secret nuclear, chemical, or biological projects, for example, would not be subject to the disclosure rule. In addition to the exemptions assuring protection of privacy rights and intellectual property, FOIA contains an exemption for non-disclosure of material that would adversely impact national security. That exemption states that FOIA's disclosure provisions do not apply to matters that are:

(1) (A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order.

Although the issue of security threats was raised by one questioner at the AAAS/Federal Focus data access conference on February 26, 1999, this aspect of FOIA has generated less discussion than the privacy and intellectual/commercial property exemptions discussed above. Given the concern raised that the new data access law might be used by FOIA requesters to obtain classified or other data that could potentially threaten national security, however, it bears mentioning that FOIA exempts such material.