Kevin Kesterson, Chair, Dane County Board of Supervisors Diann Danielsen, Manager, Dane County Land Information Office WLIA Annual Conference March 14, 2002 Internet Privacy Policies Coming Soon to a Community Near You !

Internet Privacy Policies supporting online access to land information Full Access (1997) Full Access except names (2000) Individual Opt-out for names (2002)

Simple queries and views of data Data queries & views More information Data transfer Data queries & views More information Data transfer Data exchange

RES. 33, OPEN RECORDS POLICY FOR ACCESSDANE WEBSITE THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that it is the general policy of Dane County that the Access Dane web site should not block access to the names of property owners contained in the database; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Information Resources Management Committee of the County Board develop criteria and procedures to provide exceptions to this policy for individuals whose personal safety would be endangered by disclosure of such information; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in the course of developing these criteria and procedures, the committee hold at least one public hearing and consult with land information office officials, the corporation counsel, Access Dane users, advocates for domestic abuse victims, and news media representatives; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the committee report to the Board no later than 120 days after adoption of this resolution on the actions it recommends to give effect to this policy.

E-Government Providing access to government information and services via the Internet Types of information available online: –Property information –Court and law enforcement records –Photographs and imagery Dane County websites containing personal information: –AccessDane (Land Information Office) –Accident Records (Sheriff’s Office) –Laredo & Tapestry (Register of Deeds Office)

Sheriff’s Office Accident Reports

Policy Setting Process & Timeline October 25 – Joint meeting of Exec. Comm. & IRM Comm. November 6 – Public Hearing Mailing to: land information office officials, corporation counsel, Access Dane users, advocates for domestic abuse victims & news media representatives November 15 – IRM Comm. meeting with Counsel, LIO Comm., et al. November 29 – IRM Comm. meeting (develop recommendations) December 14 – Completion of report December 20 – Report to County Board

As web sites continue to develop, the greater issue is how Dane County treats electronic access to public information while balancing privacy issues

New AccessDane Privacy Policy It is the intent of Dane County government to provide access to public records while protecting the privacy interests of citizens in the community. Dane County will provide certain public records in an electronic format via the Internet as a service to the community. Names of property owners shall be available on the public view of AccessDane parcel information on the Internet, except that these name(s) shall be removed upon the request of the individual property owner(s). Those persons requesting exclusion from the public view of the Dane County AccessDane website must submit such requests to the Dane County Land Information Office in writing. Notice of the fact that a property owner may request removal of his/her name from the public view of AccessDane parcel information will be made via a legal notice in an Official State Newspaper (the Wisconsin State Journal) and will be posted on the AccessDane website. NOTE: Individuals who request their names be removed from the AccessDane site will be notified that AccessDane parcel information, including property owner names, will be available for municipal offices and other institutions that need access to conduct public duties. Examples of public duties would include processing property tax payments and collections. Prepared by Information Resources Management Committee 11/15/2001

Policy Implementation Issues 30 days prior to implementation: “broadest possible notice” Requests will be made online (signature required to restore name, but not to remove name) Creating an open record of requestors Policy reconciliation between agencies (ex: City of Madison/Dane County/WLIP)

Pieces of the Implementation Puzzle Data field to manage confidentiality added to tax database; GCS software modifications Request management database to manage requests and actions taken on requests AccessDane application modifications Online instructions, confirmation page, misc. forms to remove AND restore names Public notice – on website and broader

Important Considerations… Seek Corporation Counsel and Risk Management guidance Inform public officials early and often Take the pulse of your local community Program for change – flexible coding Adequate public notice

Observations from the County Board Chair…  County Boards need to develop policies (don’t make LIOs “break trail”)  The more publicity, the better (we need to know how our citizens feel)

The End