IPAD's Bi-Monthly Data Practices Update

FYi newsletter header, from the Information Policy Analysis Division of the Department of Administration

NOVEMBER 2016

Case Law Update

Tichich, et al. v. City of Bloomington et al., No. 14-2964 (8th Cir. Sept. 1, 2016).

Plaintiffs (Minnesota driver’s license holders) sued several cities, government employees, former commissioners, and other government entities for alleged violations of the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) in accessing or disclosing personal information without a permissible purpose. The court clarified its holding in McDonough v. Anoka County, 799 F.3d 931 (8th Cir. 2015), which established that a plausible claim of a DPPA violation may be established by showing suspicious access and timing patterns. In dismissing several of the claims, the court held that sequential accesses occurring within a several-minute time span should be considered a single, continuous, “obtainment” of the data, rather than separate time-punctuated accesses, for the purpose of establishing whether a suspicious pattern of accesses exists.  


Report on Citizens’ Expectations of Data Sharing and Privacy

privacy project

In the spring and summer of 2016, the Data Practices Work Group of the Criminal & Juvenile Justice Information Task Force requested the assistance from students at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey School of Public Affairs to conduct a study of expectations about the government’s collection and sharing of data on individuals.

The study analyzed existing academic literature to identify common concerns on how government controls data, protects privacy, offers transparency, and the ways government balances those often-competing considerations.

Key findings include:

  • Nationally, 93% of citizens want control of their personal information and 70% believe it is very important to control data collection and access.
  • Only 6% of citizens are very confident that their data are truly secure and 25% of citizens are “somewhat” confident that data held by the government is secure.
  • The level of comfort citizens have with government intrusion into privacy varies by age group. Adults 18-29 are less supportive (21%) of intrusion into privacy as opposed to adults 30-49 (23%), 50-64 (31%), and 65+ (33%). 


Next IPAD Workshop

Law Enforcement Data Workshop – November 9, 2016

IPAD will host its Law Enforcement Data workshop on Wednesday, November 9, 2016, from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm in St. Paul. This full-day workshop provides an overview of classifications and requirements regarding law enforcement and other related data. Because this is a specialized workshop, IPAD recommends attendees without prior experience with law enforcement data attend IPAD’s Intro to Data Practices Policies and Procedures workshop before enrolling in this workshop.


MN Admin / Information Policy Analysis Division