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Government officials use personal email and texting to avoid public access laws. Why not use technology to enhance accountability instead of to subvert it?

[…] by representatives of unions and other special interests. The former San Bernardino County Assessor, who was arrested on drug charges and is under grand jury investigation, used electronic messaging on personal cell phones to direct his staff in partisan political activities, according to a report of an independent investigation commissioned by the county. The […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
August 22, 2009
Latest News

Blog

2007 Open Government Legislative Roundup: Some successes and some failures

[…] and presentation documents to be fully functional in a variety of applications, whereas documents for the current standard, Microsoft Office, are typically only fully functional in Microsoft Office. Advocates of the bill claimed it would reduce the costs of archiving electronic documents and would have improved access to public documents requested in an electronic format.
- Government Transparency and Accountability
June 3, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

CPRA fees and information in electronic form

[…] council members laptops to each other, especially during the periods of council meetings for the last two months, the city has responded thusly:Pursuant to the California Public Records Act Government Code 6253.9 b. 2 the following fees are associated with fulfilling your request: Contract Staff time to extract stored email ($45/hr x35 hrs) = […]

June 14, 2009
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Using CPRA to learn rules governing Resort Improvement District #1

[…] is subject to a few exceptions. Potentially applicable in your case is that upon request an agency is required to compile and extract information maintained in an electronic database. See Govt. Code section 6253.9. Note, however, that if computer programming is required for the compilation or extraction of data, the costs of programming can […]

July 22, 2013
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Duplication fees for non-paper records

[…] say that the District Counsel has supported them in this regard. My understanding is that only "direct costs" or statutory costs can be applied to "easily accessible records" (in this case simply making a CD copy of board meetings on their computer). I estimated that the cost of one blank CD is about 60 […]

June 14, 2009
Latest News

Blog Cases

LAPD’s use of “Stingray” cell-phone monitoring tool revealed by FAC public records request

[…] judicial authorization for deployments of the Stingray, it is not clear whether the judges or magistrates are given complete or accurate information about the scope of the electronic "searches" they are approving. This issue has figured prominently in a criminal prosecution in federal court in Texas involving FBI use of a Stingray. For more […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
February 15, 2013
Latest News

Cases Press Release

FAC Fights Unprecedented Effort by School District to Recover Nearly $500K From Records Requester

[…] type of fee recovery." FAC and the ACLU are joined in the brief by Californians Aware, the California News Publishers Association, the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Los Angeles Times and the McClatchy Company, which publishes the Sacramento Bee, among other publications. Read the full amicus brief here. For further […]
- Government Transparency and Accountability
February 6, 2018
Latest News

Bench-Bar-Media Committee proposals for greater media access

[…] would allow greater transparency in the process, the report says. The committee acknowledges, however, that there is a balancing act between the public’s desire to use personal electronic devices while in court and the court’s duty to protect the integrity of proceedings, as new technological devices continue to develop. Gag Orders The report recommends […]

September 23, 2010
Asked and Answered

Brown Act CPRA

Request denied for fire district celebration guest list

[…] records in their possession, as opposed to compiling information to answer a specific question. However, if the information related to the dinner attendees was maintained in an electronic database, and the association is indeed subject to the Public Records Act, then it may be that under Gov’t Code section 6253.9, the association would be […]

August 16, 2013
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Unreasonable Fees for Access

The county keeps a database of records that are computer printouts of companies who have valid permits, and these lists used by their staff daily. They are not custom made for the public, and other counties post these lists on their website at no charge. In addition, the County requires a written request and […]

June 14, 2009