(a) Records previously released. If the Agency has released a record, or a part of a record, to others in the past, the Chief FOIA Officer will ordinarily release it to the requester, as well. However, the Chief FOIA Officer will not release it to a requester if a statute forbids this disclosure; an exemption applies that was not previously applicable; or if the previous release was unauthorized.

(b) Withholding records. Section 552(b) of the FOIA explains the nine exemptions under which the Chief FOIA Officer may withhold records requested under the FOIA. Within §§ 1662.18 through 1662.25, the Agency describes the FOIA exemptions and explain how the Chief FOIA Officer applies them to disclosure determinations. In some cases, more than one exemption may apply to the same document. Section 552(b) of the FOIA, while providing nine exemptions from mandatory disclosure, does not itself provide any assurance of confidentiality by the Agency.

(c) Reading room. If the record(s) requested are already publicly available, either in the SSS electronic reading room or elsewhere online, such as at www.sss.gov, SSS will direct the requester to the publicly available record(s), unless the requester does not have access to the internet.

(d) Poor copy. If the Chief FOIA Officer cannot make a legible copy of a record to be released, they do not attempt to reconstruct it. Instead, the Chief FOIA Officer will furnish the best copy possible and note its poor quality in their reply.