Monday, December 12, 2011

Public's right to know in danger in Minnesota?

What is the Dayton Administration trying to do with the public "right to know"?  I recently came across a summary sheet of the 2012 IPAD Policy bill.  IPAD is a division of the Minnesota Department of Administration and is the office that serves the public with questions on the Minnesota Government Data Practices.

The one pager has a listing of numerous proposals that can have a major impact on our privacy rights and how government can collect data on us, but also our ability to inspect public records.

One proposal is that the public will not be able to inspect the same public record if they had seen it previously in the last 6 months at a government agency.  It is under the umbrella of government reform and cost savings that the proposal is brought. Now government will have to keep track of people who ask for public data.  To be polite, the proposal is dumb for a number of reasons.

I encourage the Dayton Administration to review this specific proposal and others before it is put in a bill form to be introduced.  I have been pleased with the Governor's statements about open government and transparency, but some of the proposals run contrary.

No comments:

Post a Comment