[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR4.10]

[Page 100-103]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
                   CHAPTER I--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
 
PART 4_MISCELLANEOUS RULES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 4.10  Nonpublic material.

    (a) The following records and other material of the Commission are 
not required to be made public pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552.
    (1) Records, except to the extent required to be disclosed under 
other laws or regulations, related solely to the internal personnel 
rules and practices of the Commission. This exemption applies to 
internal rules or instructions to Commission personnel which must be 
kept confidential in order to assure effective performance of the 
functions and activities for which the Commission is responsible and 
which do not affect members of the public.
    (2) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained 
from a person and privileged or confidential. As provided in section 
6(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), this 
exemption applies to competitively sensitive information, such as costs 
or various types of sales statistics and inventories. It includes trade 
secrets in the nature of formulas, patterns, devices, and processes of 
manufacture, as well as names of customers in which there is a 
proprietary or highly competitive interest.
    (3) Interagency or intra-agency memoranda or letters which would not 
routinely be available by law to a private party in litigation with the 
Commission. This exemption preserves the

[[Page 101]]

existing freedom of Commission officials and employees to engage in full 
and frank communication with each other and with officials and employees 
of other governmental agencies. This exemption includes records of the 
deliberations of the Commission except for the record of the final votes 
of each member of the Commission in every agency proceeding. It includes 
intra agency and interagency reports, memorandums, letters, 
correspondence, work papers, and minutes of meetings, as well as staff 
papers prepared for use within the Commission or between the Commission 
and other governmental agencies. It also includes information scheduled 
for public release, but as to which premature release would be contrary 
to the public interest;
    (4) Personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of 
which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal 
privacy except to the extent such files or materials must be disclosed 
under other laws or regulations. This exemption applies to personnel and 
medical records and similar records containing private or personal 
information concerning any individual which, if disclosed to any person 
other than the individual concerned or his designated legal 
representative without his permission in writing, would constitute a 
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Examples of files 
exempt from disclosure include, but are not limited to:
    (i) The personnel records of the Commission;
    (ii) Files containing reports, records or other material pertaining 
to individual cases in which disciplinary or other administrative action 
has been or may be taken, including records of proceedings pertaining to 
the conduct or performance of duties by Commission personnel;
    (5) Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, 
but only to the extent that production of such law enforcement records 
or information:
    (i) Could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement 
proceedings;
    (ii) Would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an 
impartial adjudication;
    (iii) Could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted 
invasion of personal privacy;
    (iv) Could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a 
confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or 
authority or any private institution that furnished information on a 
confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled 
by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal 
investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security 
intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential 
source;
    (v) Would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement 
investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law 
enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could 
reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law; or
    (vi) Could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical 
safety of any individual.
    (6) Information contained in or related to examination, operating, 
or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an 
agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial 
institutions;
    (7) Geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, 
concerning wells; and
    (8) Material, as that term is defined in section 21(a) of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act, which is received by the Commission:
    (i) In an investigation, a purpose of which is to determine whether 
any person may have violated any provision of the laws administered by 
the Commission; and
    (ii) Which is provided pursuant to any compulsory process under the 
Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41, et seq., or which is 
provided voluntarily in place of compulsory process in such an 
investigation. See section 21(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act.
    (9) Material, as that term is defined in section 21(a) of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act, which is received by the Commission 
pursuant to compulsory process in an investigation, a purpose of which 
is to determine whether

[[Page 102]]

any person may have violated any provision of the laws administered by 
the Commission. See section 21(b)(3)(C) of the Federal Trade Commission 
Act.
    (10) Such other material of the Commission as may from time to time 
be designated by the Commission as confidential pursuant to statute or 
Executive Order. This exempts from disclosure any information that has 
been designated nonpublic pursuant to criteria and procedures prescribed 
by Executive Order and that has not been subsequently declassified in 
accordance with applicable procedures. The exemption also preserves the 
full force and effect of statutes that restrict public access to 
specific government records or material.
    (11) Material in an investigation or proceeding that involves a 
possible violation of criminal law, when there is reason to believe that 
the subject of the investigation or proceeding is not aware of its 
pendency, and disclosure of the existence of the investigation could 
reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. When a 
request is made for records under Sec. 4.11(a), the Commission may 
treat the records as not subject to the requirements of the Freedom of 
Information Act.
    (b) With respect to information contained in transcripts of 
Commission meetings, the exemptions contained in paragraph (a) of this 
section, except for paragraphs (a)(3) and (a)(7) of this section, shall 
apply; in addition, such information will not be made available if it is 
likely to have any of the effects described in 5 U.S.C. 552b (c)(5), 
(c)(9), or (c)(10).
    (c) Under section 10 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, any 
officer or employee of the Commission who shall make public any 
information obtained by the Commission, without its authority, unless 
directed by a court, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
conviction thereof, may be punished by a fine not exceeding five 
thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment not exceeding 1 year, or 
by fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
    (d) Except as provided in paragraphs (f) or (g) of this section or 
in Sec. 4.11 (b), (c), (d), or (i), no material that is marked or 
otherwise identified as confidential and that is within the scope of 
Sec. 4.10(a)(8), and no material within the scope of Sec. 4.10(a)(9) 
that is not otherwise public, will be made available, without the 
consent of the person who produced the material, to any individual other 
than a duly authorized officer or employee of the Commission or a 
consultant or contractor retained by the Commission who has agreed in 
writing not to disclose the information. All other Commission records 
may be made available to a requester under the procedures set forth in 
Sec. 4.11 or may be disclosed by the Commission except where prohibited 
by law.
    (e) Except as provided in paragraphs (f) or (g) of this section or 
in Sec. 4.11 (b), (c), (d), or (i), material not within the scope of 
Sec. 4.10(a)(8) or Sec. 4.10(a)(9) that is received by the Commission 
and is marked or otherwise identified as confidential may be disclosed 
only if it is determined that the material is not within the scope of 
Sec. 4.10(a)(2), and the submitter is provided at least ten days' 
notice of the intent to disclose the material.
    (f) Nonpublic material obtained by the Commission may be disclosed 
to persons other than the submitter in connection with the taking of 
oral testimony without the consent of the submitter only if the material 
or transcript is not within the scope of Sec. 4.10(a)(2). If the 
material is marked confidential, the submitter will be provided 10 days' 
notice of the intended disclosure or will be afforded an opportunity to 
seek an appropriate protective order.
    (g) Material obtained by the Commission:
    (1) Through compulsory process and protected by section 21(b) of the 
Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 57b-2(b) or voluntarily in lieu 
thereof and designated by the submitter as confidential and protected by 
section 21(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 57b-2(f), 
and Sec. 4.10(d) of this part; or
    (2) That is designated by the submitter as confidential, and 
protected by section 21(c) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 
U.S.C. 57b-2(c), and Sec. 4.10(e) of this part; or

[[Page 103]]

    (3) That is confidential commercial or financial information 
protected by section 6(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 
46(f), and Sec. 4.10(a)(2) of this part, may be disclosed in Commission 
administrative or court proceedings subject to Commission or court 
protective or in camera orders as appropriate. See Sec. Sec. 1.18(b) 
and 3.45.

Prior to disclosure of such material in a proceeding, the submitter will 
be afforded an opportunity to seek an appropriate protective or in 
camera order. All other material obtained by the Commission may be 
disclosed in Commission administrative or court proceedings at the 
discretion of the Commission except where prohibited by law.

(15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.)

[38 FR 1731, Jan. 18, 1973, as amended at 40 FR 7629, Feb. 21, 1975; 40 
FR 23278, May 29, 1975; 42 FR 13540, Mar. 11, 1977; 46 FR 26291, May 12, 
1981; 49 FR 30166, July 27, 1984; 54 FR 7399, Feb. 21, 1989; 57 FR 
10807, Mar. 31, 1992; 60 FR 37749, July 21, 1995; 63 FR 38473, July 17, 
1998; 65 FR 67259, Nov. 9, 2000; 66 FR 17633, Apr. 3, 2001]