Does Geneva – or other cities – have to reveal e-mail addresses?
Like many municipalities, Geneva encourages residents to receive city communication electronically. It no longer mails paper copies of the quarterly city newsletter; you can only get it by e-mail, or by picking up a copy at city offices. Residents can also sign up for a weekly e-mail bulletin of city news, and if they sign up for an electricity use load reduction program, are notified by e-mail. But city officials, citing changes in the state’s Freedom of Information Act law, are afraid people won’t want to use these means, because they can’t guarantee users’ e-mail addresses can be kept private. Several weeks ago the city sent a notice to subscribers telling them that a “new provision” in the law allows people to ask for the city’s e-mail subscription list. “While personal e-mail addresses are exempt from this law, the city’s list does not distinguish between personal and business e-mails; therefore, the addresses would be subject to release,” the note said. Almost immediately, 200 of
