freedom of information with exceptions (chapter 8):

The Freedom of Information Act has been around since the 1970s. It is intended to provide "any person with the statutory right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to Government information in executive branch agency records. This right to access is limited when such information is protected from disclosure by one of FOIA's nine statutory exemptions." The act's "exceptions" are
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1): National security classified information.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(2): Related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3): Information specifically exempted from disclosure by statute.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4): Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person that is privileged or confidential.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(5): Inter- or intra- agency memoranda protected by either the deliberative process privilege or the attorney work-product privileges.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(6): Personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7): Certain types of information compiled for law enforcement purposes.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8): Information relating to the supervision of financial institutions.
• 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(9): Geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.
The exceptions are reasonable in general, but there are a couple worthy of scrutiny if not outright challenge. The first for example indicates classification without justification. Perhaps you are right to protect the information but the justification for classification should be subject to review when information is requested. The second one might protect discriminatory practices within an activity that may have no reasonable justification other than "that's how we've always done it." In the third a statutory exemption exists to protect information that is subject to a statutory inquiry. The point here is that government exists intentionally for the benefit of the governed. Intention and actuality are the items to scrutinize. One other note: the invasion of privacy could apply only in the case of information about private citizens who have not invaded the privacy of other private citizens. A convicted murderer has become a ward of the state, that's us, no longer a private citizen. The intent of this quick note is to invite investigating our freedoms, founded by white, educated, landholding men when women had about as much "freedom" as any other "property" human or otherwise. Gender hegemony is antiquated. This "freedom of information act" might be another way to redefine what is freedom and expand beyond the 18th Century view of rights, and ignored wrongs.