I get a lot of questions from clients about the information they provide when preparing a proposal or bid for government work. One of the most common is: Is this information subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)?
The short answer is NO.
Here's the 'why':
Exemption 4 of the FOIA covers two categories of information: (1) trade secrets and (2) information that is commercial or financial, obtained from a person, and privileged or confidential. While financial statements are not trade secrets, they are;financial informatio- obtained from the-perso' (the company), that are considered confidential, and thus are covered by FOI's exemption 4 and are not releasable.
I hope some of you find this helpful. I will try to post these tips as often as possible.
