December 18, 1996; Minnesota Department of Public Safety
12/18/1996 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 government entity that requested this opinion is presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submission 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 a letter requesting this opinion from Donald Davis, Acting Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, hereinafter DPS. In his letter, Commissioner Davis requested that the Commissioner issue an advisory opinion regarding the classification of certain data maintained by the DPS. Commissioner Davis provided some additional information to correct a technical error, and to provide clarification, on December 9, 1996. A summary of the detailed facts of this matter follows. Peace officers in Minnesota submit traffic accident reports to the Commissioner of Public Safety, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 169.09, subdivision 8. Pursuant to Section 169.09, subdivision 13, the reports, and the data in the reports, are confidential. The DPS maintains the reports it receives in a computerized database. Periodically, DPS receives requests for summary accident data. According to Commissioner Davis, the computerized reports are . . . available for statistical research, including our need to meet the requirement of [Section] 169.10 that ... the Department of Public Safety shall ... publish statistical information ... as to the number and circumstances of traffic accidents.' Commissioner Davis wrote: On the one hand, I feel that the information is confidential and may not be released to the public [pursuant to Section 169.09, and 23 United States Code Section 409] . . . . However, an argument could be made for release of the summary data pursuant to [Section 13.05, subdivision 7], as disclosure of summary data . . . derived from confidential data is permitted. Commissioner Davis further stated: [w]e in Public Safety are very conscious of the law's protection of the accident report and its individual data as confidential, but we are just as concerned that public information is made accessible, and that legitimate research needs are accommodated.
Issue:
In his request for an opinion, Commissioner Davis asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:
Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 13.03, subdivision 1, government data are presumed to be public unless the data are classified as not public by statute, temporary classification (see Section 13.06), or federal law.
Section 169.09, subdivision 13, provides that all written reports and supplemental reports required under this Section are confidential and shall be for the use of the Commissioner of Public Safety and other appropriate state, federal, county, and municipal governmental agencies for accident analysis purposes, with certain exceptions. Pursuant to Section 13.02, subdivisions 3 and 5, confidential data on individuals are not public data in which an individual is or can be identified as the subject of that data, and which are also inaccessible to the individual data subject. Pursuant to Section 13.02, subdivision 19, summary data are defined as statistical records and reports derived from data on individuals but in which individuals are not identified and from which neither their identities nor any other characteristic that could uniquely identify an individual is ascertainable. (Emphasis added.) Pursuant to Section 13.05, subdivision 7, [t]he use of summary data derived from private or confidential data on individuals . . . is permitted. Unless classified pursuant to section 13.06, another statute, or federal law, summary data is public. As Commissioner Davis noted, traffic accident reports containing data on individuals are confidential pursuant to Section 169.09, subdivision 13. Confidential data are, by definition, data on individuals, i.e., data in which an individual is or can be identified. Summary data are not data on individuals, i.e., data in which an individual is not or cannot be identified. Thus, summary data derived from confidential traffic accident reports are public data. The federal law cited by Commissioner Davis does not classify data as not public within the classification system provided by Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. 23 United States Code Section 409 provides: [n]otwithstanding any other provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled for the purpose of identifying, evaluating, or planning the safety enhancement of potential accident sites, hazardous roadway conditions, or railway-highway crossings . . . shall not be subject to discovery or admitted into evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding . . . . In other words, the federal law prevents the discovery or admission into evidence of various types of traffic accident data. (This is similar to the provision in Minnesota Statutes Section 169.09, subdivision 13 (b), which prohibits the discovery or use as evidence of data in traffic accident reports filed pursuant to that Section.) To interpret the federal law to mean that even summary data are not public would mean that no data whatsoever about traffic accidents, derived from reports filed pursuant to Section 169.09, would be public. The Commissioner concludes that is not a result intended by federal law. Opinion:Based on the correspondence in this matter, my opinion on the issue Commissioner Davis is as follows:
Signed:
Elaine S. Hansen
Dated: December 18, 1996
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Summary data
Summary data (See also: Educational data - Summary data)
Traffic accidents (169.09)
