Buzzfeed, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of the Air Force, No. 19-01337, 2020 WL 6490864 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 3, 2020) (Carter, Jr., J.)
Buzzfeed, Inc. v. U.S. Dep't of the Air Force, No. 19-01337, 2020 WL 6490864 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 3, 2020) (Carter, Jr., J.)
Re: Requests seeking information about private individuals that may have received tours of Air Force One
Disposition: Granting defendant's motion for summary judgment; denying plaintiff's motion for summary judgment
- Exemption 6: The court holds that "the Air Force’s motion for summary judgment is granted." The court relates that it first "considers whether the personal information at issue here, the names of those scheduled to take tours, is contained in a file similar to a medical or personnel file such that it is encompassed by Exemption 6." The court finds that "[t]he records at issue here contain the names, birthdates, citizenship information, and contact information of civilians, as well as the names and contact information of military and other government personnel." "The Court concludes, as others have, that such identifying information satisfies the first step of Exemption 6." Regarding the privacy interests at issue, the court finds that "it is certainly conceivable that disclosure of the individual identities 'could result in unwanted contact or harassment.'" "Indeed, [plaintiff] has already published an article making public names of persons they believe took the tours, which article itself details unwanted press contacts." Regarding the public interest, the court finds that "the protocol documents that [plaintiff] has already received indicate 'how [tours] are arranged' and indicate the category of individuals 'to whom access is granted based on these nonroutine invitations and personal connections'." "It is clear that 'personal friends or family of high-ranking executive branch officers' may access tours through channels different from those available to military or civilian federal employees, which are unavailable to an average person without such connections." "Any further gain to the public interest in disclosing the names of specific persons who have taken or been offered Air Force One tours does not outweigh those individuals' privacy interests."