[govinfo] GovInfo News 5-31-2007
- From: "Patrice McDermott" <pmcdermott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "govinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <govinfo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 15:58:01 -0400
Patrice McDermott, Director
OpenTheGovernment.org
www.openthegovernment.org
202.332.OPEN (6736)
- Meeting of the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board
The meeting will be held on June 7, 2007 from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and June
8, 2007, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., at the George Washington University
Cafritz Conference Center, 800 21st Street, NW., Room 308/Parks Room,
Washington, DC. more
Judge: County must share map data with public
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=18587
By The Associated Press
05.23.07
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Santa Clara County must publicly disclose data used to
create electronic maps of all properties within the county, a judge ruled in a
decision hailed by First Amendment advocates.
Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg's May 18 ruling requires Santa Clara
County to share - with no restrictions and at minimal cost - the digital
"basemap" that makes up its "Geographic Information System."
The GIS basemap contains data on each parcel of property and allows for the
three-dimensional display of geographic information. The maps can be used by
citizens or journalists to analyze how neighborhoods compare on crime, property
tax, test scores and other measures.
The California First Amendment Coalition filed suit to force Santa Clara County
to share the parcel-map data, claiming that the county couldn't restrict access
to data created with taxpayer money. The county has charged tens of thousands
of dollars for access to the records.
The county had argued that it could restrict access because the data contained
"trade secrets" as well as sensitive information whose disclosure could
threaten public safety. It also said it needed to charge for access to recoup
costs of developing the digital maps.
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