`United States Court of Appeals
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
`
`
`
`Decided August 12, 2022
`
`Argued October 21, 2021
`
`
`No. 20-5378
`
`TELEMATCH, INC.,
`APPELLANT
`
`v.
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
`APPELLEE
`
`
`Appeal from the United States District Court
`for the District of Columbia
`(No. 1:19-cv-02372)
`
`
`Anand V. Ramana argued the cause and filed the briefs for
`appellant.
`
`
`Johnny H. Walker, Assistant U.S. Attorney, argued the
`cause for appellee. With him on the brief were R. Craig
`Lawrence and Jane M. Lyons, Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
`
`
`Before: WILKINS, KATSAS, and JACKSON,* Circuit Judges.
`
`Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge KATSAS.
`
`
`
`* Circuit Judge, now Justice, Jackson was a member of the panel
`
`at the time the case was argued but did not participate in the opinion.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`2
`KATSAS, Circuit Judge: To administer its farm subsidy
`programs, the United States Department of Agriculture assigns
`numbers to plots of enrolled farmland and to their owners. The
`question presented is whether the Freedom of Information Act
`requires USDA to disclose these numbers.
`
`
`I
`
`A
`
`FOIA requires federal agencies to disclose requested
`
`records unless one of nine exemptions applies. 5 U.S.C.
`§ 552(a)(3), (b). Exemption 3 allows an agency to withhold
`records “specifically exempted from disclosure” by a statute
`that either “requires that the matters be withheld from the
`public” or “refers to particular types of matters to be withheld.”
`Id. § 552(b)(3)(A)(i). Exemption 6 allows an agency to
`withhold “personnel and medical files and similar files the
`disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted
`invasion of personal privacy.” Id. § 552(b)(6).
`
`B
`
`USDA administers various programs offering financial
`
`assistance for farming. When a farm enrolls in such a program,
`USDA digitally draws its boundaries on a map or aerial photo.
`USDA then assigns either a farm number or tract number to the
`figure so drawn. Farm numbers refer to an entire farm, and
`tract numbers refer to a contiguous plot within a farm. USDA
`also assigns a customer number to each farm owner
`participating in one of its programs. In its records, USDA uses
`these numbers to track various information associated with the
`tracts and owners, such as the kind of crops planted or the land
`transactions of the owner.
`
`
`
`
`
`3
`C
`
`In 2005, Multi Ag Media LLC, a commercial vendor of
`
`agricultural data, submitted a FOIA request for USDA records
`containing farm and tract numbers. We held that Exemption 6
`did not cover those records. Multi Ag Media LLC v. USDA,
`515 F.3d 1224 (D.C. Cir. 2008). We acknowledged that the
`records were similar to personnel or medical files and that their
`release would impair a privacy interest by making it possible
`to learn of the financial condition of individual farmers. Id. at
`1228–30. But we also found a significant public interest in
`disclosure, which would allow the public to “more easily
`determine whether USDA is catching cheaters and lawfully
`administering its subsidy and benefit programs.” Id. at 1232.
`We thus concluded that release of the farm and tract numbers
`“would not constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
`personal privacy.” Id. at 1233 (cleaned up).
`
`Judge Sentelle dissented. He argued that other available
`
`information made it possible to monitor program compliance,
`so disclosure of farm and tract numbers “would merely reveal
`information about private citizens, without shedding any light
`on the government’s activities.” Multi Ag, 515 F.3d at 1234
`(Sentelle, J., dissenting) (cleaned up). Likewise, he concluded
`that the majority had overly discounted farmers’ privacy
`interests. Id.
`
`the Food,
`in
`to Multi Ag
`responded
`Congress
`
`Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-234,
`§ 1619, 122 Stat. 923, 1022–23. It provides that USDA “shall
`not disclose”:
`
`(A) information provided by an agricultural producer
`or owner of agricultural
`land concerning
`the
`agricultural operation, farming or conservation
`
`
`
`
`
`4
`practices, or the land itself, in order to participate in
`programs of the Department; or
`
`(B) geospatial information otherwise maintained by
`the Secretary [of Agriculture] about agricultural land
`or operations for which information described in
`subparagraph (A) is provided.
`
`7 U.S.C. § 8791(b)(2).
`
`This prohibition on disclosure has four exceptions. USDA
`
`may disclose information to assist other government agencies.
`Id. § 8791(b)(3)(A). It may disclose certain “payment
`information (including payment information and the names and
`addresses of recipients of payments).” Id. § 8791(b)(4)(A). It
`may disclose information that “has been transformed into a
`statistical or aggregate form without naming any … individual
`owner, operator, or producer.” Id. § 8791(b)(4)(B). And it
`may disclose information with consent of the relevant owner or
`producer. Id. § 8791(b)(4)(C).
`
`D
`
`Like Multi Ag Media, Telematch, Inc. is a commercial
`
`vendor of agricultural data. In 2018 and 2019, it submitted to
`USDA seven FOIA requests for records containing farm
`numbers, tract numbers, and customer numbers. USDA
`withheld the numbers under Exemptions 3 and 6. But it
`released or offered to release a statistical version of the files in
`accordance with section 8791(b)(4)(B). It also released
`payment information for the 2018 Conservation Reserve
`Program pursuant to section 8791(b)(4)(A).
`
`Telematch sued to challenge USDA’s withholding of the
`
`farm, tract, and customer numbers. Both parties moved for
`summary judgment and attached statements of material facts to
`
`
`
`
`
`5
`their motions. Telematch did not file a statement of genuine
`issues controverting any of the government’s asserted material
`facts, which the district court then took as admitted.
`Telematch, Inc. v. USDA, No. CV 19-2372 (TJK), 2020 WL
`7014206, at *4 (D.D.C. Nov. 27, 2020). Telematch does not
`challenge this ruling on appeal.
`
`The district court granted the government’s motion for
`
`summary judgment. The court held that USDA properly
`withheld the farm and tract numbers under Exemption 3,
`because the numbers are “geospatial information” covered by
`section 8791(b)(2)(B). Telematch, 2020 WL 7014206, at *4–
`6. The court further held that USDA properly withheld the
`customer numbers under Exemption 6. It ruled that the
`numbers apply to individual farmers and so count as “similar
`files.” Id. at *7. Accepting USDA’s statement of material
`facts, the court concluded that their disclosure would impair a
`substantial privacy interest while advancing no countervailing
`public interest. Id. at *8–10.
`
`Telematch appealed. We have jurisdiction under 28
`
`U.S.C. § 1291. We review the grant of summary judgment de
`novo. PETA v. HHS, 901 F.3d 343, 349 (D.C. Cir. 2018).
`
`II
`
` We begin with the farm and tract numbers. Exemption 3
`applies to records “specifically exempted from disclosure” by
`a statute that “requires that the matters be withheld.” 5 U.S.C.
`§ 552(b)(3). To withhold records under Exemption 3, an
`agency must show that “the statute is one of exemption” and
`that “the withheld material falls within the statute.” Corley v.
`DOJ, 998 F.3d 981, 984–85 (D.C. Cir. 2021) (cleaned up).
`
`
`
`
`
`6
`A
`
`The parties agree that 7 U.S.C. § 8791(b)(2)(B) requires
`
`USDA to withhold “geospatial information,” but Telematch
`contends that farm and tract numbers are not covered by that
`term. The district court held that the numbers are geospatial
`information because they are “information referring to a
`specific physical location on Earth.” Telematch, 2020 WL
`7014206, at *6.
` Telematch objects
`that “geospatial
`information” means “geographic
`information, or other
`information about the characteristics of the land, that is either
`expressly overlayed on, or combined with, an accompanying
`graphic image (e.g., map, aerial photograph, or digitized
`image).” Appellant Br. at 25 (cleaned up). Section 8791 does
`not define “geospatial information,” so we interpret the phrase
`in line with its ordinary meaning. BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City
`Council of Balt., 141 S. Ct. 1532, 1537 (2021).
`
`Dictionary definitions of the word “geospatial” support the
`district court’s conclusion that geospatial information includes
`all information referring to a specific location on earth. See
`Geospatial, Cambridge Business English Dictionary (2011)
`(“relating to information that identifies where particular
`features are on the earth’s surface, such as oceans and
`mountains”); Geospatial, Collins English Dictionary (12th ed.
`2014) (“of or relating to the relative position of things on the
`earth’s
`surface”); Geospatial, New Oxford American
`Dictionary (3d ed. 2010) (“relating to or denoting data that is
`associated with a particular location”); Geospatial, Oxford
`English Dictionary (3d ed. 2012) (“of or relating
`to
`geographical distribution or location”).
`
`information”
`the phrase “geospatial
`Definitions of
`
`reinforce this conclusion. In 2008, the Federal Geography Data
`Committee, an interagency committee established by the
`
`
`
`
`
`7
`Office of Management and Budget, defined the term as
`“Information concerning phenomena implicitly or explicitly
`associated with a location relative to the Earth’s surface.”
`FGDC, Lexicon of Geospatial Terminology (Dec. 2008),
`https://perma.cc/HW3Z-QPU5.
` And
`the Congressional
`Research Service has defined “geospatial information” as
`“information attached to a location, such as latitude and
`longitude, or street location.” P. Folger, CRS, Geospatial
`Information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS): An
`Overview for Congress 2 (2011). These definitions confirm the
`district court’s interpretation of “geospatial information” to
`mean information referring to a specific place, whether or not
`overlaid on a graphic image.
`
`Farm and tract numbers identify a specific area of
`
`farmland in a specific location. They serve as a shorthand
`reference to individual plots of land. In this respect, they are
`analogous to a street address or latitude and longitude
`coordinates. They are therefore “geospatial information”
`properly withheld under section 8791(b)(2)(B).
`
`Precedent from other circuits aligns with this conclusion.
`
`In Central Platte Natural Resources District v. USDA, 643
`F.3d 1142 (8th Cir. 2011), the Eighth Circuit upheld USDA’s
`refusal to release data from its “Geographic Information
`System.” Id. at 1145. The data included “farm number[s]” and
`“tract number[s].” Cent. Platte Nat. Res. Dist. v. USDA, No.
`4:09CV3198, 2010 WL 11545694, at *3 (D. Neb. Sept. 8,
`2010). The Eighth Circuit took for granted that the data “fell
`within” section 8791(b)(2)(B). Cent. Platte, 643 F.3d at 1148.
`In addition, the Ninth Circuit has held that “GPS coordinates”
`are geospatial information under section 8791(b)(2)(B). Ctr.
`for Biological Diversity v. USDA, 626 F.3d 1113, 1115–17 (9th
`Cir. 2010). Like farm and tract numbers, they identify a
`specific location on earth but are not part of a graphic image.
`
`
`
`
`
`8
`B
`
`Telematch argues that definitions in two other statutes cut
`
`against our conclusion. The first one appears in the Geospatial
`Data Act of 2018, which defines the term “geospatial data” for
`purposes of that Act to mean:
`
`information that is tied to a location on the Earth,
`including by identifying the geographic location and
`characteristics of natural or constructed features and
`boundaries on the Earth, and that is generally
`represented in vector datasets by points, lines,
`polygons, or other complex geographic features or
`phenomena.
`
`43 U.S.C. § 2801(5)(A). The second definition appears in the
`organic statute for
`the National Geospatial-Intelligence
`Agency. It defines the term “geospatial information” for
`purposes of that statute to mean:
`
`information that identifies the geographic location and
`characteristics of natural or constructed features and
`boundaries on or about the earth and includes—
`
`(A) data and information derived from, among
`other things, remote sensing, mapping, and
`surveying technologies; and
`
`(B) mapping, charting, geomatics data, and
`related products and services.
`
`10 U.S.C. § 467(4).
`
`Telematch does not explain how farm and tract numbers
`
`fall outside these definitions. The Geospatial Data Act requires
`“geospatial data” to be information “tied to a location on the
`
`
`
`
`
`9
`Earth,” which farm and tract numbers clearly are, subject only
`to further elaboration about how the information is “generally”
`represented. 43 U.S.C. § 2801(5)(A). Similarly, the definition
`for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency requires that
`“geospatial information” identify “the geographic location and
`characteristics of natural or constructed
`features and
`boundaries on or about the earth.” 10 U.S.C. § 467(4). Farm
`and tract numbers appear to satisfy this definition as well. They
`identify the location and boundaries of areas of land, as well as
`at least one important feature—that it is farmland.
`
` We need not definitively resolve whether farm and tract
`numbers meet these two statutory definitions. Neither of them
`applies to section 8791. Moreover, statutory definitions do not
`necessarily reflect ordinary meaning; they often “giv[e]
`ordinary words a limited or artificial meaning.” A. Scalia & B.
`Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts 225
`(2012). For instance, a company with fourteen workers would
`be considered an employer in common parlance but would not
`meet the statutory definition of “employer” in Title VII of the
`Civil Rights Act. 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(b). Finally, even if these
`two definitions have some bearing on the ordinary meaning of
`the phrase “geospatial information,” it is enough to conclude
`that farm and tract numbers are at least arguably covered by
`these definitions, as well as clearly covered by many others.
`
`C
`
`Telematch raises three further arguments why farm and
`
`tract numbers are not geospatial information.
`
`First, it relies on a 2008 USDA memorandum stating that
`
`“‘geospatial information’ includes photographs when they
`contain, or are associated with, other data depicting or
`identifying attributes of the land, such as common land unit
`boundaries.” Memorandum from B. Rutherford, Assistant
`
`
`
`
`
`10
`Sec’y for Admin., USDA, to USDA FOIA Officers 1 (July 30,
`2008), https://perma.cc/JKK7-ZQ4E. Telematch claims this
`means
`that “geospatial
`information” covers only such
`photographs. But include is “a term of enlargement, and not of
`limitation.” Burgess v. United States, 553 U.S. 124, 131 n.3
`(2008) (cleaned up). The memorandum explains when a
`photograph qualifies as geospatial information; it does not
`suggest that only photographs may so qualify.
`
`Second, Telematch cites a Wikipedia article for the
`
`proposition that geospatial information may be divided into
`vector files, raster files, and geodatabases—all of which
`involve graphical images. Geographic Data and Information,
`Wikipedia (Jan. 8, 2021, 2:39 PM), https://perma.cc/3L2W-
`MBD8. Even assuming that this article is a reliable source,
`Telematch has mischaracterized it. The article says there are
`“many different types” of geospatial information, “including
`vector files, raster files, geographic databases, web files, and
`multi-temporal data.” Id. (emphasis added). And it adopts
`essentially
`the Federal Geography Data Committee’s
`definition—“data and information having an implicit or
`explicit association with a location relative to Earth.” Id.
`
`Third, Telematch notes that a USDA handbook for state
`
`and local officials lists “[i]magery and spatial representations”
`of farms as a separate category of information from farm and
`tract numbers. See USDA, Farm Records and Reconstitutions
`for 2013 and Subsequent Years pp. 1-5, 1-7 (2013). But the
`handbook says nothing about which categories of information
`count as geospatial information. This is unsurprising because
`its purpose is to help local officials maintain farm records, not
`to help USDA officials handle FOIA requests. Id. at p. 1-1.
`
`
`
`
`
`11
`III
`
`USDA withheld the customer numbers under Exemption
`
`6, which applies if the records at issue are “similar” to
`“personnel” or “medical” files and if their disclosure “would
`constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
`5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6). To determine whether the second
`condition is met, we first ask “whether disclosure would
`compromise a substantial, as opposed to a de minimis, privacy
`interest.” Consumers’ Checkbook Ctr. for the Study of Servs.
`v. HHS, 554 F.3d 1046, 1050 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (cleaned up). If
`so, we “balance the privacy interest in non-disclosure against
`the public interest.” Id.
`
`Customer numbers are “similar files” under Exemption 6.
`
`That phrase encompasses files that “contain information about
`particular individuals.” U.S. Dep’t of State v. Wash. Post Co.,
`456 U.S. 595, 600 (1982). It also includes “bits of personal
`information, such as names and addresses, the release of which
`would create a palpable threat to privacy.” Jud. Watch, Inc. v.
`FDA, 449 F.3d 141, 152 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (cleaned up). Like
`names, customer numbers correspond to particular farm
`owners and can be used to ascertain their identities. They are
`therefore similar files. See Multi Ag, 515 F.3d at 1228–29.
`
`The release of customer numbers would impair a
`substantial privacy interest. USDA uses customer numbers in
`records on land sales, business relationships, crops planted, and
`the programs in which owners are participating. As we
`recognized even in the context of farm and tract numbers, the
`release of such information would “allow for an inference to be
`drawn about the financial situation of an individual farmer,”
`which implicates a substantial privacy interest. Multi Ag, 515
`F.3d at 1230.
`
`
`
`
`
`12
`We recognize that the requested records do not generally
`identify which farm owner corresponds to a customer number.
`But there is nonetheless a “substantial probability” that
`disclosure will interfere with personal privacy, which is enough
`to trigger the exemption. Nat’l Ass’n of Retired Fed. Emps. v.
`Horner, 879 F.2d 873, 878 (D.C. Cir. 1989). According to
`USDA’s statement of material facts, which Telematch has not
`contested, the match between customer numbers and farm
`owners is already a matter of public record in many cases.
`USDA used to release customer numbers in FOIA productions
`before 2018, including in documents connecting these numbers
`to individual owners. It has also released many such records
`inadvertently. Moreover, many of them can be obtained
`through a simple Internet search. Release of further records
`containing customer numbers thus would allow the public to
`learn more about the corresponding farm owners.
`
`As for the public interest, Telematch claims that disclosure
`
`would aid in monitoring whether USDA is making accurate
`benefit and subsidy determinations. In Multi Ag, we
`recognized that “the public has a significant interest in being
`able to look at the information the agency had before it when
`making these determinations.” 515 F.3d at 1231. USDA
`objects that the public would need customer numbers and farm
`and tract numbers to be able to evaluate its decisions. Yet to
`establish the privacy interests at stake, USDA asserted that the
`public can link information in the requested records to
`individual farm owners. If it can do so to learn of farmers’
`personal finances, it likely can also do so to monitor USDA’s
`program administration.
`
`In Multi Ag, we concluded that the threat to farmers’
`
`privacy from release of information like customer numbers was
`not “particularly strong,” and so was outweighed by the
`“significant” public interest in monitoring USDA’s decisions.
`
`
`
`
`
`13
`515 F.3d at 1230–31. However, section 8791 substantially
`changes our analysis of both sides of the balance.
`
`As to privacy, section 8791 reflects a congressional
`
`judgment that farmers do have a strong interest in protecting
`the type of information at issue. It establishes an absolute
`prohibition on disclosure of information provided by farmers
`“concerning
`the
`agricultural operations,
`farming or
`conservation practices” on their land “or the land itself.” 7
`U.S.C. § 8791(b)(2)(A). The statute plainly reflects privacy
`rather than other concerns, for it permits disclosure upon a
`farmer’s consent. Id. § 8791(b)(4)(C). Release of customer
`numbers would allow the public to learn much the same
`information about farmers’ land and operations, so farmers
`must also have a robust privacy interest in those numbers.
`
`As to the public interest, section 8791 permits the release
`
`of other information revealing USDA’s activities. In weighing
`the interests at stake, we must ask whether the “incremental
`value” of disclosing customer numbers justifies the harm to
`farmers’ privacy interests. Am. Immigr. Laws. Ass’n v. EOIR,
`830 F.3d 667, 674 (D.C. Cir. 2016) (emphasis added) (cleaned
`up). Section 8791 permits release of information about
`program administration in a “statistical or aggregate form” if
`no individual farmers are identified. 7 U.S.C. § 8791(b)(4)(B).
`It further allows release of “payment information” under any
`USDA program, including “the names and addresses of
`recipients.” Id. § 8791(b)(4)(A). In Multi Ag, by contrast,
`USDA offered to release neither statistical aggregates of the
`requested records nor payment information. Given the lines
`drawn by section 8791, the incremental value of disclosing
`customer numbers is now much lower.
`
`Taking both points into account, we conclude that the
`
`disclosure of customer numbers would constitute a clearly
`
`
`
`
`
`14
`unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. A general interest
`in monitoring benefit and subsidy determinations, without
`more, cannot overcome the heightened interest we must now
`show for farmers’ privacy interests in information about their
`land and operations. Here, Telematch has produced no
`evidence that USDA is doing a poor job of program
`administration. Nor has it even attempted to explain why the
`statistical and payment information released by USDA is
`insufficient to allow public monitoring of the agency’s program
`eligibility determinations.
`
`Along the same lines, Telematch claims that the disclosure
`
`of customer numbers would allow the public to monitor
`whether farmers are fraudulently obtaining benefits from
`USDA. But Telematch has provided no evidence of any
`significant fraud. And “an unsupported suggestion that an
`agency may be distributing federal funds to a fraudulent
`claimant” cannot by itself justify “disclosure of private
`information,” which would make Exemption 6 a dead letter.
`Consumers’ Checkbook, 554 F.3d at 1054.
`
`IV
`
`USDA permissibly withheld the requested farm, tract, and
`
`customer numbers.
`
`Affirmed.
`
`
`
`
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