A federal investigation has been launched to find out how a school superintendent used a history-erasing phone app called Cyber Dust, allegedly to cover up his dealings in no-bid contracts for the school district. The superintendent said he only used the app for a month, experimentally. (Fresno Bee, September 29, 2015, by Mackenzie Mays with contributions from John Ellis)
Transparency watchdogs are worried that Cyber Dust and other apps may provide ways for public officials to hide transactions that should be public under public records laws. California law considers official texts and e-mails open to the public. Fresno’s school district policies do not require saving text messages. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently determining if messages from private e-mail accounts and cell phones fall under open records laws and also whether text messaging should be treated the same as paper records and preserved for public scrutiny. (Valley Public Radio, October 13, 2015, by Jeffrey Hess)