Show Metadata, Court Says
Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:01 pm
Hidden data embedded in electronic public records must be disclosed under Arizona's public records law, the State Supreme Court ruled. The unanimous decision overturned lower courts' rulings and is one of the first decisions by a state appellate court on whether a public records law applies to so-called "metadata", or data about data. Metadata can show how and when a document was created or revised and by whom. The ruling came in a case involving a demoted Phoenix police officer's request for data embedded in notes written by a supervisor.