This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2022). It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.

Facts and Procedural History:

X (a pseudonym used pursuant to section 13.072, subdivision 4) asked for an advisory opinion regarding her right to access data about herself and her minor child from Western Prairie Human Services (WPHS), under Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 (Data Practices Act). WPHS submitted comments in response to X’s request.

In her request, X wrote that she submitted a data subject request to WPHS on February 27, 2023. WPHS confirmed receipt of the data request on February 28, 2023. X followed up on her data request in March and April 2023.

In its comments, WPHS wrote that it “contracts with an outside agency to provide IT services.” WPHS explained that it received responsive data provided by the IT company on March 17, 2023, with the exception of data maintained on two cell phones. WPHS indicated that it followed up with the IT company for the additional data in March and April 2023. WPHS received the remaining responsive data from the IT company on May 1, 2023.

WPHS added that it provided the responsive data to legal counsel for review and redaction prior to releasing the data to X on May 9, 2023.

Issue:

Discussion:

Grant County and Pope County entered into a joint powers agreement to combine Grant County Social Services and Pope County Human Services, forming Western Prairie Human Services, a joint powers entity, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 471.59.

The Commissioner has previously opined that joint powers entities are statewide systems as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 13.02, subdivision 18. (See Advisory Opinions 95-040 and 07-011.) Therefore, Western Prairie Human Services is subject to the requirements of Chapter 13.

Minnesota Statutes, section 13.04, governs the rights of data subjects. Section 13.04, subdivision 3 requires a government entity to “comply immediately, if possible, with any request made pursuant to this subdivision, or within ten days of the date of the request, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, if immediate compliance is not possible.”

In Advisory Opinion 18-005, the Commissioner stated, “[w]hen a data subject requests access to government data about him/herself, the Data Practices Act sets a strict time limit for the entity to provide access. … Though the amount of data created and maintained by government is ever-increasing due to the transition to electronic and digital records, the strict time limit to provide access to data about data subjects remains the same.” (See also Advisory Opinions 03-026, 04-070, 14-006, and 22-001.)

The Commissioner recognizes that searching for, retrieving, and redacting responsive data can be time-consuming depending upon the size of the data request. However, there is not an exception to the 10-business day response time required by section 13.04. Therefore, WPHS did not respond appropriately when it failed to provide X with the requested data about herself and her minor child within 10 business days.

The Commissioner acknowledges that entities may rely on internal IT departments or contractors to assist with the search and retrieval of electronic data. However, the Commissioner encourages entities to discuss its Chapter 13 obligations with its technology providers to ensure that requests from data subjects are responded to within 10 business days.

Opinion:

Based on the facts and information provided, the Commissioner’s opinion on the issue is as follows:

Western Prairie Human Services did not respond appropriately to a data request made on February 27, 2023, by a data subject, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13.

Signed:

Stacie Christensen
Temporary Commissioner

June 14, 2023