Transparency News – April 2019

Note: News links will take you away from WAPRO’s website. WAPRO is not responsible for changing ad content surrounding the articles.

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April 26, 2019

Washington State

• AWC Advocacy: City support needed to keep public records bill alive
• Editorial: Personal financial info of WA politicians should be online. It’s not as scary as they think

Outside Washington State

Laws, Legislation, Policy

• Oregon Legislature considers several dozen bills to limit public records access – OR
• Virginia courts can keep many of their records secret under new rules – VA
• New Colorado Law Opens Records on Police Internal Affairs Investigations – CO
• More secrecy than sunshine: Lawmakers push for exemptions to records, meetings laws – FL

In the Courts

• Justices Urged to Bolster Public-Records Limit on Business Data – USA
• Analysis: SCOTUS likely to endorse broad exemption for “confidential” commercial information – USA
• Justices grapple with whether food stamp payments are public records – USA

Transparency and Open Government

• FOIA: From Principle on Paper to Actual Practice in Mueller Report – USA
• City of Albuquerque creates new team to handle public records requests – NM

Costs, Fees, Burdensome Requests

• Blog: Science & Transparency: Harms from harassing Public Records Requests

Technology, Security, and Privacy

• Mental health apps are sharing data without proper disclosure
• IG Guru: How to Go Paperless in Your Home Office

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April 19, 2019

Washington State

• Amid turmoil, judge rules WA State Bar Association subject to open meetings law

Outside Washington State

Laws, Legislation, Policy

• Law extends Colorado open records to internal police probes – CO
• Editorial: House crime bill has a hidden cancer: Sealing criminal records – FL

In the Courts

• Argument preview: SCOTUS to consider meaning of “confidential” in FOIA – USA
• Texas High Court Keeps Shroud on Execution Drug Suppliers – TX
• Teacher/Antifa leader ordered to pay $20K for withholding public records of her activism – CA

Transparency and Open Government

• AG is breaking state record laws by keeping his email address secret – IN
• A Battle Over California’s Public Records Law – CA

Costs, Fees, Burdensome Requests

• Woman requested public documents from Beaufort County. Then she got a bill for $12,000 – SC
• Public Records Requests Inundate Bourne Town Clerk – MA

Technology, Security, and Privacy

• Opinion: Everyone’s Income Taxes Should Be Public 
• Opinion: Making income tax returns public would be immoral
• The Ultimate Online Privacy Guide
• Cybersecurity still key issue for record keepers
• NYPD claws back documents on facial recognition it accidentally disclosed to privacy researchers – NY
• Growing number of states move to shield lottery winners – NM
• When We Outsource Privacy Compliance, We May Undermine Privacy Protection

Records Management, Archives

• AI for storage management gets real
• The evolution of data and disparate systems

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April 12, 2019

Washington State

• Collective bargaining transparency, income tax ban sought by pro-business group (Spokane)
• Editorial: Preserve campaign finance accountability
• WA Archives Trainings: Organizing the File Room, Improving your RM program

Outside Washington State

Laws, Legislation, Policy

• Should DAs defend record requests? Lawmakers tinker with complicated system – OR
• Putting teeth behind the Public Records Law – NV

In the Courts

• Appeals court narrows path for disclosure of grand jury info in Mueller report – USA
• Iowa Supreme Court sees wide ‘investigative reports’ exemption for police files – IA
• Editorial: Protect those who request public records from lawsuits – OR

Transparency and Open Government

• Decision to withhold Florida bank victim names tests new law – FL
• Overloaded ombudsman pleads for transparency – IA
• Is a body totally funded by public money a public body? Tourism Council not sure – VA
• Report: New Jersey public disclosure law has improved nurse to patient ratio – NJ
• How Past Bombshell Reports Paved The Way For The Mueller Report – USA

Technology, Security, and Privacy

• Cybersecurity Governance Lessons from Nuclear Power

Records Management, Archives

• ARMA: April is RIM Month
• New era for shredding companies: NAID/PRISM merger

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April 5, 2019

Washington State

• Zoom in on the body camera debate in Clark County
• Washington State Appears Next in Line for Comprehensive Privacy Legislation
• Booked and Buried: Northwest Jails’ Mounting Death Toll

Outside Washington State

Laws, Legislation, Policy

• Legal problems, increased secrecy under pro-union bill headed to Senate, opponents say – OR
• House Bill would put local government financial records online – IL
• Lawsuit: UCLA failed to disclose records on disruption of Treasury Secretary’s speech – CA
• Police internal affairs transparency bill headed for governor’s desk – CO
• Budget agreement would conceal arrest records – NY
• Lottery-winner ID privacy bill clears Senate – AR

In the Courts

• Court upholds broad release of police misconduct records in California
• Bench ruling requires response to request for names of ICE agents involved in Tennessee raid – USA
• Supreme Court to take on meaning of key FOIA exemption (trade secrets) – USA

Transparency and Open Government

• The coming transparency battle over the Mueller Report – USA
• Gov. says Catastrophic Claims Association should be subject to public records and meetings law – MI
• Arlington County already planning to forward FOIAs to Amazon – VA
• Are police officer mugshots public record? It’s up to the cops – FL

Records Management, Archives

• Spared From the Shredder (for Now): ‘Priceless’ Bank Records of Old New York
• A Public Record at Risk: The Dire State of News Archiving in the Digital Age
• State Archivist warns state records at risk in digital age – NH
• The race to preserve (almost) everything on Google+ before it shuts down
• Myspace loses all content uploaded before 2016