---
kind: "section"
citation: "22 U.S.C. § 4355"
title: "22"
title_heading: "Foreign Relations and Intercourse"
number: "4355"
heading: "Relationship to Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/22/4355"
units:
  - "Chapter 53B — Foreign Relations of the United States Historical Series"
---

# §4355. Relationship to Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act

- (a) **Privacy Act—** Nothing in this chapter may be construed as requiring the public disclosure of [records](/usc/22/4357.md?p=4) or portions of [records](/usc/22/4357.md?p=4) protected under [section 552a of title 5](/usc/5/552a.md) (relating to the privacy of personal [records](/usc/22/4357.md?p=4)).
- (b) **Freedom of Information Act—**
  - (1) Except as provided in [paragraph (2)](#b-2), no [record](/usc/22/4357.md?p=4) (or portion thereof) shall be excluded from publication in the FRUS series under [section 4353 of this title](/usc/22/4353.md), or exempted from the declassification requirement of [section 4354 of this title](/usc/22/4354.md), solely by virtue of the application of [section 552(b) of title 5](/usc/5/552.md?p=b) (relating to the exemption of certain matters from freedom of information requirements).
  - (2) [Records](/usc/22/4357.md?p=4) described in [section 1202(f) of title 8](/usc/8/1202.md?p=f) (relating to visa [records](/usc/22/4357.md?p=4)) shall be excluded from publication in the FRUS series under [section 4353 of this title](/usc/22/4353.md) and, to the extent applicable, exempted from the declassification requirement of [section 4354 of this title](/usc/22/4354.md).

## Source credit

(Aug. 1, 1956, ch. 841, title IV, § 405, as added Pub. L. 102–138, title I, § 198(a), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 688.)