E. Business records, financial data, trade secrets.

This information is potentially exempt by virtue of the FOIA exemption for records which, if disclosed, “would give advantage to competitors or bidders.” Ark. Code Ann. § 25-19-105(b)(9)(A). Insofar as individual financial records are concerned, the constitutional right to privacy may prohibit disclosure. See Ark. Op. Att’y Gen. Nos. 96-363, 90-324, 87-415. Other statutes exempt information of this type in the hands of various state agencies. E.g., Ark. Code Ann. § 2-16-418 (trade secrets and financial information submitted to State Plant Board); § 4-88-111 (trade secrets obtained by consumer protection division of Attorney General’s office); § § 8-4-207, 8-4-308, 8-7-811 & 8-7-909 (trade secrets obtained by Commission on Pollution Control & Ecology and Department of Environmental Quality); § 8-7-1012 (records submitted to Department of Labor to substantiate a trade secret claim under Public Employees’ Chemical Right to Know Act); § 12-10-318 (proprietary information submitted to CMRS Emergency Telephone Services Board); § 15-4-606 (applications and related documents submitted to Arkansas Economic Development Commission under Industrial Revenue Bond Law); § 15-4-1226 (records obtained by State Bank Department concerning county and regional industrial development companies); § 15-5-409 (loan guarantee applications filed with Arkansas Development Finance Authority); § 17-25-304 (financial records provided to Contractors Licensing Board); § 23-2-316 (proprietary information or trade secrets of utilities regulated by Public Service Commission); § 23-42-207 (financial records of broker-dealers and investment advisers regulated by Securities Commissioner, and trade secrets of any person); § § 23-67-212, 23-67-219 (trade secrets and proprietary information filed with Insurance Commissioner). In judicial proceedings, courts may seal records to protect trade secrets. Ark. Code Ann. § 4-75-605.