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Advisory Opinion 99-028

September 3, 1999; City of Minnetonka

9/3/1999 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 IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access.

On July 21, 1999, IPA received a letter dated July 19,1999, from Desyl Peterson, an attorney representing the City of Minnetonka. In her letter, Ms. Peterson asked the Commissioner to issue an opinion regarding the classification of certain data the City maintains.

A summary of the facts is as follows. Ms. Peterson stated that the City's Recreation Services Department has questions about the classifications of certain data it collects and maintains from people who use the City's parks, beaches, recreation center, ice arena, etc. Ms. Peterson wrote, We looked at Minn. Stat. section 13.57, and could not determine conclusively whether any of this information would qualify as private data by the city for the purpose of enrolling individuals in recreational and other social programs. . .

Issue:

In her request for an opinion, Ms. Peterson asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:

What is the classification of the following data maintained by the City of Minnetonka:

The identity of people, either directly or as the contact person for an organization, who reserve, and pay for, use of the ice sheets at the City's ice arena;
The identity of people who reserve, and sometimes pay for, use of rooms in the City's community center and shelters in the City parks;
The identity of people who get permits to use City parks, but do not pay for the use;
The identity of people who get season passes to use the City-operated public beaches;
The identity of people who purchase memberships at the City's recreation center; and
The identity of people who apply for and receive scholarships for participation in recreation programs, and their supporting documentation of need?

Discussion:

Minnesota Statutes, section 13.57, classifies as private certain data collected and maintained by political subdivisions for the purpose of enrolling individuals in recreational and other social programs. Those data are as follows:

the name, address, telephone number, any other data that [identify] the individual, and any data which [describe] the health or medical condition of the individual, family relationships and living arrangements of an individual or which are opinions as to the emotional makeup or behavior of an individual.

It is the Commissioner's opinion that the key phrase in section 13.57 is for the purpose of enrolling individuals. The American Heritage Dictionary - Second College Edition, Houghten Mifflin Company, 1985, defines enroll as to enter the name of in a register, record, or roll. Thus, a reasonable interpretation of section 13.57 is that it classifies as private certain information about individuals who are registering or signing up for recreational or other social programs.

Applying this analysis to the specific examples Ms. Peterson cited, it appears that none of the first five examples are situations in which individuals are enrolling in programs: reserving and paying for ice time; reserving, and sometimes paying for, space in the community center and the parks; obtaining permits for using the parks; obtaining season passes for using the beaches; and purchasing memberships at the City's recreation center. Therefore, the City cannot use section 13.57 to classify as not public the data Ms. Peterson referred to in numbers 1 through 5.

The sixth scenario, however, is one in which data are apparently being collected about someone registering or signing up for programs. Ms. Peterson wrote, Scholarship applications are not required for everyone enrolling in programs, but they are part of the enrollment process because the individuals who need scholarships could not enroll without the funding assistance. The Commissioner's understanding from Ms. Peterson's statements is that some people registering for programs also supply scholarship information. Thus, because the purpose of collecting the data is to enroll individuals in recreational and other social programs, the data are classified pursuant to section 13.57. In other words, the name; address; telephone number; any other data that identify the individual; and any data that describe the health or medical condition of the individual, family relationships and living arrangements of an individual or which are opinions as to the emotional makeup or behavior of an individual are private.

Opinion:

Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Ms. Peterson is as follows:

The data described in numbers 1- 5 are not classified as private pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.57, and are therefore public (see section 13.03, subdivision 1).

The data described in number 6 are classified as private pursuant to section 13.57 to the extent that the data are as follows: name; address; telephone number; any other data that identify the individual; and any data that describe the health or medical condition of the individual, family relationships and living arrangements of an individual or which are opinions as to the emotional makeup or behavior of an individual.

Signed:

David F. Fisher
Commissioner

Dated: September 3, 1999

Government Data

Social recreational data (13.548 / 13.57)