An attorney representing AT&T, Inc., came under fire from several Supreme Court justices who, during a recent oral argument, questioned claims by the telecom giant that it should be entitled to a "personal privacy" exemption outlined under the Freedom of Information Act. The justices said they had never heard of a company seek such an exemption and that Congress had never specifically raised such protection for corporations. At issue in FCC v. AT&T (case no. 09-1279) is AT&T's assertion that the FCC was not permitted to turn over records that detailed work it had done for the New London, Conn., school district through the "E-rate" program because corporations are among entities covered under the personal privacy exemption outlined under FOIA, known as Exemption 7(C). Justices representing both wings of the high court challenged AT&T attorney Geoffrey Klineberg to produce examples where the protection of corporate interests had been referred to as personal privacy. He could not.
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