Right-To-Know Law Leads to Spam
In the last few years, the concern over clandestine activities of Government agencies has come under scrutiny, and rightfully so. There is reason to believe that some Government agencies at Federal, State and local levels have been conducting business without accountability, outside of the public eye. Not good..
As a way to combat potential hidden agendas, many government agencies have enacted a ‘Right-To-Know’ law; a public disclosure of all business conducted. This law- allows you, as an individual citizen, to request copies of any transactions a government agency has performed. You would have access to all local construction permits, for instance.
The upside to this is that it keeps government honest; making them responsible for full disclosure all records pertaining to a particular government action. Let say that you want to track all construction that is occurring in your town. You have the right to obtain a copy of all documents and meeting minutes, to examine them yourself and be and satisfied that the necessary permits had been obtained, who filed for them, and that all proper procedures were followed.
For every upside, there is a downside
Full disclosure has a dark side. It turns out that if, lets say, you own a general contracting business, you could go to your local government agency, ask for a copy of all records pertaining to construction in your town, then use this data for marketing purposes.
Yes, there was a time when companies had to purchase marketing lists to access targeted data. But now, thanks to the Right-To-Know laws, government has inadvertently opened the door to distributing data for private gain.
The Bright Side
Fortunately, government has realized its mistake. The Right-to-Know law, they have come to see, is easily perverted by self-serving individuals and companies who leverage it to advance their own agendas.
The challenge is – how do they close that door?
I could venture some ideas: How about no disclosure to a company entity, for instance? I didn’t write the law so I’m not inclined to try to fix it. For once, I can watch the struggle from the sidelines.
Maybe I’ll grab a beer, sit back and watch this one unfold!