January 21, 1997; Metropolitan Airports Commission
1/21/1997 10:14:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of PIPA and, with the exception of any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On October 29, 1996, PIPA received, via fax, a letter from Karen Youso and Donna Halvorsen of the Star Tribune. In their letter, Ms. Halvorsen and Ms. Youso requested that the Commissioner issue an advisory opinion regarding their access to certain data maintained by the Metropolitan Airports Commission, hereinafter, MAC. In response to Ms. Youso's and Ms. Halvorsen's request, PIPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Thomas Anderson, General Counsel of the MAC. The purposes of this letter dated November 4, 1996, were to inform Mr. Anderson of Ms. Youso's and Ms. Halvorsen's, and to ask him or the MAC's attorney to provide information or support for the MAC's position. On November 13, 1996, PIPA received a faxed response from Mr. Anderson. A summary of the facts relating to this matter is as follows. In a copy of a memo dated October 14, 1996, to Tom Brown, of the MAC, Ms. Halvorsen and Ms. Youso requested access to, among other data, the names and addresses of the 149 homeowners whose houses were blower door tested since last October. In a copy of a telecopy transmittal dated October 17, 1996, Mr. Brown responded, According to MAC Legal Counsel, under the Data Practices Act, MAC cannot release names and addresses associated with blower door test data that MAC provided to you on October 1. In a copy of a memo to Mr. Brown, dated October 23, 1996, Ms. Halvorsen and Ms. Youso again requested the data and asked Mr. Brown to cite the portion of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13 upon which the legal counsel was relying. In a copy of a memo dated October 25, 1996, Mr. Anderson responded by stating that the MAC was denying access to the data based on Section 13.31. He wrote: Under the benefit data statute, the names and addresses of persons who receive benefits through the [MAC's housing insulation program] are public, all other data is private. We are able to provide you with the names and addresses of the homeowners who are part of the Part 150 Program, but cannot release information specifying the particular benefits' (e.g. a blower door test) received by any particular individual. In his response to Ms. Youso's and Ms. Halvorsen's opinion request, Mr. Anderson argued that the data requested by the Star Tribune should be classified pursuant to Section 13.31. He noted that under Section 13.31, only the names and addresses of applicants for and recipients of benefits, aid, assistance, are public data. All other benefit data are classified as private. Therefore, he asserted, a release of those data describing which persons' homes had been blower door tested would be in violation of the statute. Issue:In their request for an opinion, Ms. Youso and Ms. Halvorsen asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 13.03, subdivision 1, all government data are public unless those data are classified otherwise in a Minnesota statute, federal law, or by a temporary classification. Therefore, because the data sought by the Star Tribune are government data, those data are public unless otherwise so classified. As discussed by Mr. Anderson, the MAC has taken the position that names and addresses of the 149 homeowners whose houses were blower door tested since October of 1995 are not public because such information is classified under Section 13.31, benefit data, as private. The issue, then, is whether the data are benefit data. In part, Section 13.31, subdivision 1, states: As used in this section, benefit data means data on individuals collected or created because an individual seeks information about becoming, is, or was an applicant for or a recipient of benefits or services provided under various housing, home ownership, rehabilitation and community action agency, Head Start, and food assistance programs administered by state agencies, political subdivisions, or statewide systems. Subdivision 2 of Section 13.31 states that the names and addresses of applicants for and recipients of benefits, aid, or assistance through programs administered by a government entity that are intended to assist with the purchase of housing or other real property are public data. Subdivision 3 of Section 13.31 states that, unless otherwise provided by law, all other benefit data are private. In his letter, Mr. Anderson stated that the MAC administers a federally-funded housing insulation program called the Part 150 Sound Insulation Program. He wrote: Under the program, MAC may make a number of changes to a home located near MSP Airport in order to reduce interior noise levels. These changes may include reconditioning of existing windows, addition of acoustical exterior storm windows, baffling of attic and roof vents, wall and attic insulation, storm door replacement and central air conditioning. These items are provided at no cost to the homeowner, pursuant to an agreement with the homeowner. Mr. Anderson argued that data relating to the Part 150 Sound Insulation Program are classified under Section 13.31 because all data regarding the individual homeowners is collected or created because they are a recipient of the program benefits. In conclusion, he wrote, If MAC were to release the names and addresses of homeowners who have received particular benefits or services, it would be the equivalent of releasing the actual benefit data and revealing the benefits or services received by those homeowners. The intent of the statute is to keep all data other than the names and addresses of applicants or participants private. It is difficult to agree with the MAC's stated position that it is required to treat this data as private under Minnesota Statutes Section 13.31 because it does not appear that the MAC has consistently treated the data in question as private. In his letter, Mr. Anderson justifies the disclosure of the names and addresses of some program participants by stating that Minnesota Statutes Section 13.31, subdivision 2, makes the name and address data public. However, Section 13.31, subdivision 2, makes public only the names and addresses of individuals who are participating in programs that are intended to assist those individuals . . .with the purchase of housing or other real property. (Minnesota Statutes Section 13.31, subdivision 2, emphasis added.) The Part 150 Sound Insulation Program is not such a program. Thus if, as Ms. Youso and Ms. Halvorsen have stated, the MAC has released data which identify some of the participants in the program without gaining the informed consent of those participants, and the MAC believes it must treat the data in question as private Section 13.31 data, then those releases of data have violated the rights of the data subjects. Given this analysis of the requirements of Section 13.31 and the MAC's treatment of the names and addresses of some participants as public data, the Commissioner finds it difficult to conclude that the MAC would want to expose itself to possible liability that would result from agreeing with the MAC's position. Exposure to needless liability would be the result if the Commissioner agreed with the MAC's position that the data on Part 150 participants are private benefit data. It is more consistent to conclude that as the MAC has treated these data as public in the past, it should treat the data as public for purposes of responding to the request of Ms. Youso and Ms. Halvorsen. Opinion:My opinion on the issue raised by Ms. Youso and Ms. Halvorsen is as follows:
Signed:
Elaine S. Hansen
Dated: January 21, 1997 |
Welfare data
Benefit data
