Personal Security Exception to the Right to Know Act

In Times Publishing Company v. Michel, 159 Pa. Commw. 398, 633 A.2d 1233, 1236 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1993), this Court noted that a personal privacy right under the Pennsylvania Constitution exists under the Right to Know Act (RTKA). Times Publishing addressed the issue of whether portions of firearm application records that disclosed applicants' addresses, telephone and social security numbers should be withheld because the information may compromise personal security. The Court held that in analyzing the personal security exception to the RTKA, we must apply "a balancing test, weighing privacy interests and the extent to which they may be invaded, against the public benefit which would result from disclosure." Times Publishing, 633 A.2d at 1239.