Federal Communications Commission, et al., Petitioners v. At&t Inc. et al.

Decided March 1, 2011. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 09-1279 · 562 U.S. 397 (2011) · Cited 218 times

Holding

Corporations do not have “personal privacy” for the purposes of Exemption 7(C).

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Johnson v. United States · 559 U.S. 133 (2010)
• Nken v. Holder · 556 U.S. 418 (2009)
• Robinson v. Shell Oil Co. · 519 U.S. 337 (1997)
• Department of the Air Force v. Rose · 425 U.S. 352 (1976)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft · 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
• National Archives & Records Administration v. Favish · 541 U.S. 157 (2004)
• United States Department of State v. Washington Post Co. · 456 U.S. 595 (1982)
• Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Abramson · 456 U.S. 615 (1982)
• United States Department of State v. Ray · 502 U.S. 164 (1991)
• Dolan v. United States Postal Service · 546 U.S. 481 (2006)
• Merck & Co. v. Reynolds · 559 U.S. 633 (2010)
• Powerex Corp. v. Reliant Energy Services, Inc. · 551 U.S. 224 (2007)
• Molzof v. United States · 502 U.S. 301 (1992)
• Textron Lycoming Reciprocating Engine Division v. United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers · 523 U.S. 653 (1998)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Bostock v. Clayton County · 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
• Chamber of Commerce of United States of America v. Whiting · 563 U.S. 582 (2011)
• Mohamad v. Palestinian Authority · 566 U.S. 449 (2012)
• Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd. v. Novo Nordisk A/s · 566 U.S. 399 (2012)
• Tanzin v. Tanvir · 592 U.S. 43 (2020)
• Hall v. United States · 566 U.S. 506 (2012)
• West Virginia v. EPA · 597 U.S. 697 (2022)
• Garland v. Gonzalez · 596 U.S. 543 (2022)
• HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Assn. · 594 U.S. 382 (2021)
• Sackett v. EPA · 598 U.S. 651 (2023)
• Bufkin v. Collins · 604 U.S. 369 (2025)
• Diaz v. United States · 602 U.S. 526 (2024)
• ZF Automotive U. S., Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd. · 596 U.S. 619 (2022)
• Babcock v. Kijakazi · 595 U.S. 77 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2011). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).