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Out of curiosity, if it was a matter of public record then, doesn't it remain a matter of public record?


Funny thing, public record law... Just because a document is created by the government does not automatically make it a public record. There are plenty of cases of public records requests being denied. Public records may also be redacted to prevent sensitive information from being disseminated, even if the document as a whole is public record.

Personally, I'm a little unsure that what they did in the first place was proper. It's very personal information, posted in a very public way. Granted, 95% of us have our number and address in the phone book, but there are plenty of people that choose to pay for an unlisted number. I assume they have decent reasons.

Also, even if a record exists, it's disbursement can be denied unless the request is extremely specific. "I need the document entitled $%^& created on #$%." "I need all your records about #$%^& company" will not suffice. If a record does not exist "I need a list of all businesses that paid more than $10,000 in taxes last year" it does NOT have to be created. Requests MUST be made in person or in writing. Email does not count. It's very interesting to see how it all really works.

So no, I don't feel that particular case was public record. Ever. As to the pee already being in the pool, you're exactly right. There was nothing we could really do to undo the damage, we were just trying to get the biggest risk out of the way.