Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media

Argus Leader Media requested SNAP annual store-level redemption data from the USDA under FOIA. The USDA denied the request, citing Exemption 4 for confidential commercial information. The district court ordered disclosure, and the Eighth Circuit affirmed, requiring proof of substantial competitive harm for the information to be considered confidential. Food Marketing Institute, representing grocery retailers, appealed to the Supreme Court. On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court reversed in a 6-3 decision, holding that the ordinary meaning of "confidential" in Exemption 4 only requires that the information is privately held and not customarily disclosed to the public. No additional substantial competitive harm test is necessary. The case was remanded to determine whether the data is customarily kept private.

The Supreme Court reversed the Eighth Circuit, ruling 6-3 that under Exemption 4, "confidential" means information that is customarily kept private and provided to the government under an assurance of privacy. The substantial competitive harm requirement was eliminated.

Whether the term "confidential" in FOIA Exemption 4 requires a demonstration of substantial competitive harm, or merely requires that the information be privately held and not customarily public.

The ruling significantly expanded the ability of corporations to shield data submitted to the government from public disclosure. It made it substantially harder for journalists and watchdog groups to access commercial information held by federal agencies, marking a major shift in FOIA transparency that strengthens business privacy protections.