Information about IT security threats volunteered by the private sector to the proposed Homeland Security Department would be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act under House and Senate versions of the HSD bill. . .
Information about IT security threats volunteered by the private sector to the proposed Homeland Security Department would be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act under House and Senate versions of the HSD bill.

The exemption is intended to encourage cooperation between the public and private sectors. Proposals for FOIA protection in earlier legislation sponsored by Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) were criticized as too broad. A spokeswoman for Bennett said the Homeland Security amendment approved last week by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is more narrowly crafted than exemptions offered under the earlier bill.

Exemptions would apply only to information submitted voluntarily to the Homeland Security Department, using FOIA's existing mechanism for shielding information. Records obtained independently of HSD would not be protected from public disclosure under FOIA, and information currently subject to FOIA would remain available.

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