From: James Love Subject: City of Bellevue Draft Electronic Information Access Policy TAP-INFO TAXPAYER ASSETS PROJECT INFORMATION POLICY NOTE November 17, 1993 City of Bellevue Draft Electronic Information Access Policy The following are comments from the Taxpayer Assets Project to the City of Bellevue, regarding its Draft Electronic Information Access Policy. Bellevue is one of several cities in Washington State attempting to charge data users for the costs of developing city information systems. The Washington State ACLU, EFF, and local activists such as Peter Marshall have also provided Bellevue with comments on this issue. ---------------------- November 17, 1993 Karen A. Olsen Assistant Director of Financial Management and Personnel Services City of Bellevue Bellevue, Washington 98009-9012 voice: 206/ 455-6846; fax: 206/637-6163 RE: Draft Electronic Information Access Policy Dear Karen: Thank you for providing me with a copy of your Draft Electronic Information Access Policy, dated September 7, 1993. I have reviewed the document, and offer the following comments. 1. The policy is broad, covering information systems other than those used for GIS purposes. The Draft Policy says in the Purpose section (.010) that the City has long recognized the value of maintaining current information and has invested in a geographic information system (GIS) and other sophisticated computer technology. We understand that the particular problems of developing city GIS services have motivated many local government efforts to increase prices on government information. However, the policy document appears to cover all city information systems. If indeed the City is principally concerned with financing its GIS system, then it would be much better to focus the elements of the Policy which allow full cost recovery to only the GIS project, rather than to the much broader class of City information systems, the implications of which are less understood and more troublesome. 2. The distinction between data and "custom electronic products" is too broad. The City's policy makes a distinction between access to the data itself, and so called "custom electronic products." Custom Electronic Products are defined as products which must be created, using City resources to acquire data, design, program, test, reformat, and assure quality control to respond to specific requests. In modern online information systems, most data retrieved would fit this definition, so it seems to allow the City to require citizens to pay the City's costs of development for any items which is obtained through an online query system, and perhaps any dataset which consists of a subset of a larger database. Custom Electronic Products should at a minimum be defined as those products that could not be provided to the public without special investments in information technology, which the City would not have made in order to carry out its missions as a government body. Custom Electronic Products should not include any information services or products that are developed for the use of City employees in carrying out their duties. The federal government attempts to address this issue in its OMB Circular A-130, which allows agencies to recover data collection and dissemination costs in limited cases where the information product or service is for the benefit of a specific identifiable group, beyond the benefit to the general public. This clause in OMB Circular A-130 was designed to allow the Bureau of the Census to enter into cost sharing with industry groups that pay for special industry surveys, which are conducted by Census rather than by trade groups (largely because some respondents are more comfortable sharing data with the Bureau of the Census than with private groups). The key phrase in this exception is the term, "beyond the benefit to the general public." OMB itself rarely calls attention to this exception, which it intended to be limited and rare. 3. Citizens should pay no more than the City's "incremental cost" of providing public access. The policy should make it clear that if the City develops an information service for its own internal purposes, citizens should be able to obtain access to the data generated by the system at no more than the "incremental cost" of dissemination. Incremental cost should be defined as the additional cost that is required to extend public access to the data, and should not include the development costs of systems that the City would have incurred if public access was not allowed. We do not support any exceptions to this policy. But if the City persists in its efforts to recover development costs for its GIS systems, it should make it clear that GIS systems and only GIS systems are priced above incremental costs of dissemination. 4. Distinctions between commerical and noncommercial uses are often appropriate. The Draft Policy provides for distinctions between commerical and noncommerical users, in determining pricing of information products and services. Such distinctions are often appropriate, particularly if the costs of the products and services create barriers to access. This does not mean that commerical users should pay excessive fees for access to public records, but rather that in setting fees, the City may allow price differentials. The Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provides for fee waivers for news organizations and noncommercial uses. The federal Depository Library program provides 1,400 libraries with free copies of federal publications, in order to promote universal access to government information. Many commercial data vendors, such as Dialog or LEXIS, also provide special rates for educational institutions. There are also other steps that the City can take to help users with limited ability to pay. Some federal agencies provide peak and off peak rates for online systems, in order to allow price sensitive users to obtain lower cost access to online systems after business hours. For example, the federal Economic Bulletin Board (EBB) charges $12 per hour for morning usage, and only $3 per hour after 6 pm and on weekends. 5. The City should not copyright its data or place restrictions on the redissemination of public records. The Draft Policy makes reference to the "licensing" of "Custom Electronic Products." Any plan to use copyright or contract provisions to limit the redissemination of government information should be rejected, as contrary to the public's right to know. Government agencies should not restrict the reuse or redissemination of public information, except where it may be necessary to protect personal privacy. I am forwarding you under separate cover a copy of "User Needs: Pricing of Federal Electronic Information Products and Services," included in Government's Role in the Electronic Era: User Needs and Government's Response, Proceedings of the Annual FLICC Forum on Federal Information Policies, (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, March 25, 1993). This article, which you may freely disseminate, addresses this issues in the context of federal policies. Thank you for the opportunity to provide these brief comments on the Bellevue Draft Electronic Information Access Policy, and please keep me informed of future developments. Sincerely, James Love Director, Taxpayer Assets Project --------------------------------------------------------------------- TAP-INFO is an Internet Distribution List provided by the Taxpayer Assets Project (TAP). TAP was founded by Ralph Nader to monitor the management of government property, including information systems and data, government funded R&D, spectrum allocation and other government assets. TAP-INFO reports on TAP activities relating to federal information policy. tap-info is archived at ftp.cpsr.org; gopher.cpsr.org and wais.cpsr.org Subscription requests to tap-info to listserver@essential.org with the message: subscribe tap-info your name --------------------------------------------------------------------- Taxpayer Assets Project; P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036 v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176; internet: tap@essential.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------