Protecting Government Contractors’ Proprietary Information in Response to FOIA Requests

Most government contractors are familiar with the nearly 50-year-old Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but many nonetheless find themselves surprised and, often reflexively, dismayed, when they are on the receiving end of a FOIA request.

The request usually arrives in a contracting officer or contract specialist e-mail stating that the agency intends to release their contracts and proposals to an often anonymous requester. “But it’s a competitor. How can they give my information to my competitor?” is usually the first reaction. But it’s true: The same law that the press and public interest groups use to mine government files to ...