Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/10pdf/09-530.pdf
Page Number: 23

Cite as:  562 U. S. ____ (2011) 

19 

Opinion of the Court 

person  might  not  be  suitable  for  a  particular  job,  and
references do not have all day to answer a laundry list of
specific  questions.  See  CDIA  Brief  6–7  (references  “typi-
cally have limited time to answer questions from potential 
employers,”  and  “open-ended  questions”  yield  more  rele-
vant  information  than  narrow  inquiries).    Form  42,  by
contrast, takes just five minutes to complete.  75 Fed. Reg.
5359. 

The  reasonableness  of  such  open-ended  questions  is 
illustrated by their pervasiveness in the public and private 
sectors.  Form 42 alone is sent out by the Government over
1.8  million  times  annually.    Ibid.   In  addition,  the  use  of 
open-ended  questions  in  employment  background  checks
appears  to  be  equally  commonplace  in  the  private  sector. 
See,  e.g.,  S.  Bock  et al.,  Mandated  Benefits  2008  Compli-
ance  Guide,  Exh.  20.1,  A  Sample  Policy  on  Reference
Checks  on  Job  Applicants  (“Following  are  the  guidelines 
for conducting a  telephone reference check: . . . Ask open-
ended questions, then wait for the respondent to answer”);
M. Zweig, Human Resources Management 87 (1991) (“Also 
ask,  ‘Is  there  anything  else  I  need  to  know  about  [candi-
date’s name]?’  This kind of open-ended question may turn 
up  all  kinds  of  information  you  wouldn’t  have  gotten  any 
other  way”).  The  use  of  similar  open-ended  questions  by
the Government is reasonable and furthers its interests in 
managing its operations. 

B 
1 

Not  only  are  SF–85  and  Form  42  reasonable in  light  of 
the Government interests at stake, they are also subject to 
substantial  protections  against  disclosure  to  the  public.
Both  Whalen  and  Nixon  recognized  that  government
“accumulation”  of  “personal  information”  for  “public  pur-
poses” may pose a threat to privacy.  Whalen, 429 U. S., at 
605; see Nixon 433 U. S., at 457–458, 462.  But both deci-