McBroom introduces bill to protect FOIA access
A Michigan senator has proposed legislation to strengthen public access to government communications by closing loopholes that allow officials to obscure emails using code words, symbols, or non-English characters. This initiative responds to a specific incident where Greek letters in an email allegedly hid critical information about a lead water crisis from standard Freedom of Information Act searches, highlighting the urgent need to prevent such evasion tactics regardless of whether they were accidental or intentional. The proposed bill explicitly prohibits government entities from avoiding disclosure by using hidden codes or foreign letters, while also increasing penalties for non-compliance. By clarifying the law’s intent and enforcing stricter accountability, the measure aims to ensure that all government communications remain transparent and accessible to the public. This approach seeks to restore trust in government operations by guaranteeing that no official record can be shielded through technical manipulation or linguistic obfuscation. This development is highly relevant to open data advocates because it underscores a fundamental challenge: technical workarounds can undermine the integrity of digital public records. It reinforces the necessity for robust open data standards that mandate the preservation and accessibility of information in clear, searchable formats. Protecting against such obscuration ensures that citizens and researchers can rely on data transparency for meaningful accountability and informed decision-making.
Source: dailypress.netPublished on 2023-09-08