Open Records Include Metadata with the Record

In response to open records requests, governmental agencies must turn over the metadata associated with public documents kept in electronic form, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled.

The issue arose after the City of Phoenix refused to turn over the metadata of the performance reports of a police officer. The police officer believed that the notes were backdated and wanted the metadata to determine when the notes were made. The City contended that while the documents were subject to the state’s open records act, the metadata was not. The City did not dispute that the paper documents were public and responsive to the request.

“The pertinent issue is not whether metadata considered alone is a public record,” the court wrote. “Instead, the question is whether a ‘public record’ maintained in an electronic format includes not only the information normally visible upon printing the document but also any embedded metadata.”

The court said “metadata in an electronic document is part of the underlying document; it does not stand on its own. When a public officer uses a computer to make a public record, the metadata forms part of the document as much as the words on the page.”

“It would be illogical, and contrary to the policy of openness underlying the public records laws, to conclude that public entities can withhold information embedded in an electronic document, such as the date of creation, while they would be required to produce the same information if it were written manually on a paper public record.”

David Lake v. City of Phoenix, Supreme Court of Arizona, No. CV-09-0036-PR