Advisory Opinion 20-006

This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2019). It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.

Facts and Procedural History:

The City of Savage (City) requested an advisory opinion from the Commissioner regarding the classification of data the City maintains, pursuant to the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 (Chapter 13).

The City provided the following summary of the facts:

On July 22, 2020, the City hosted a virtual town hall event via ZOOM entitled Race & Policing in Savage. The event arose out of the killing of Mr. George Floyd, and the City wished to have conversations with its residents regarding the City’s own policing policies and procedures. As part of its promotion of the event, the City circulated a flyer and advertised the event on its webpage and through social media. … The City requested that those interested in participating in the event rsvp for the same electronically and provide an email address. The City then sent those providing an email address with the ZOOM link to the event.

Following the event, the Savage Pacer submitted a data practices request seeking all communications involving City staff members or elected officials regarding the event. … The data collected by the City includes a list of the email addresses of those who rsvp’d for the event and to whom the ZOOM link was provided. The City has provided the Savage Pacer the requested information except a list of email addresses of those who rsvp’d for the event…

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Issues:

Based on the opinion request, the Commissioner agreed to address the following issues: What is the classification of email addresses collected by the City of Savage to notify the public of information to participate in a town hall event?

Discussion:

Government data are public unless classified by statute, temporary classification, or federal law as not public. (See Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 1.)

Minnesota Statutes, section 13.356, paragraph (a) provides:

The following data on an individual collected, maintained, or received by a government entity for notification purposes or as part of a subscription list for an entity's electronic periodic publications as requested by the individual are private data on individuals:

(1) telephone number;

(2) e-mail address; and

(3) Internet user name, password, Internet protocol address, and any other similar data related to the individual's online account or access procedures.

The City wrote, “[i]n this instance, the City required the email address of those individuals who rsvp’d for the event so that the City could notify those wishing to participate by sending the ZOOM link. For that reason, we believe that the email addresses of individuals are private data.”

The Commissioner agrees with the City. The plain language of the statute classifies the data elements listed in section 13.356 as private if the City received them for “notification purposes.” The City collected the email addresses so that it could inform residents of how to attend the town hall. Therefore, section 13.356 classifies the email addresses.

The Commissioner notes that if the City collected any other data from the individuals that are not listed in section 13.356, including name or US postal address, those data would be presumptively public.

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Opinion:

Based on the facts and information provided, the Commissioner’s opinion on the issue raised is as follows:

Email addresses collected by the City of Savage to notify the public of information to participate in a town hall event are private data pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.356.

Signed:

Lenora Madigan
Deputy Commissioner

September 29, 2020