Court rules 'metadata' not public record

From Sunshine Review

January 13, 2009

Court rules 'metadata' not public record

"The public is not entitled to the electronic data that shows when a something that is a public record has been created, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. In a divided decision, the majority said the electronic tags that word-processing programs attach to files and documents are not part of the file or document itself.

Judge Michael Brown said that information makes it exempt from state laws defining what records are public. Brown, writing the majority ruling, said that hidden electronic information does not fit within the various definitions of what constitutes a public record." Read the full article here.