December 10, 2001; School District 277 (Westonka)
12/10/2001 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.
Note: In 2013 the Legislature enacted 13.356 which classifies as private certain personal contact and online account information. Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the government entity that requested this opinion are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data that are not public, are available for public access. On November 5, 2001, IPA received a letter from Pamela Myers, Superintendent of School District 277, Westonka. In her letter, Superintendent Myers asked the Commissioner to issue an opinion regarding the classification of certain data that the District maintains. A summary of the facts is as follows. Superintendent Myers wrote: westonka.news ...is published weekly during the school year by the school district. In its second year, it represents a way to reach interested readers with timely school district news, including breaking news, such as safety issues, school closings, or other urgent concerns. The newsletter is available to anyone who wishes to subscribe. Subscribers are solicited in several ways, including school district publications, the school district Web site, and the local community newspaper. Only those who have voluntarily subscribed receive it. Superintendent Myers also wrote that when individuals subscribe, they do not identify themselves as parents, community members, or any other group. She noted, however: Anecdotally, we know that many of the subscribers are parents of students in the Westonka Public Schools. We also know that the list includes retired employees, civic leaders..., the local librarian, a former school board member who has moved out of state, staff members at a local parochial school, local realtors, and other individuals. In the past, at least one subscriber was a prospective employee. Issue:In her request for an opinion, Superintendent Meyers asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 1, government data are public unless otherwise classified. Here, the District is producing an electronic newsletter. The District has collected the data in question because the subjects of the data wish to receive a copy of the newsletter. There is no provision in Chapter 13 or another statute that classifies these data as anything other than public. Therefore, the names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of the subscribers are public. In her opinion request, Superintendent Myers noted that some of the subscribers happen to be parents of students who attend school in the District. If the District collected the names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of these individuals because they are parents, the data would be classified pursuant to section 13.32, educational data. However, the District collected and maintains the data because the individuals, who happen to be parents, wish to receive the electronic newsletter. The purpose of this data collection is to maintain a newsletter subscription list and not to collect data about individuals in their roles as parents. Therefore, section 13.32 does not apply. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Superintendent Meyers raised is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: December 10, 2001 |
Electronic data
Email/internet
