Geographic data dispute intensifies

<p>Local governments in Sonoma County hold a treasure trove of computer data about their residents and communities -- everything from aerial photos to the location of sewer lines.</p><p>As the technology has evolved for these geographic information systems, or GIS for short, battles have erupted in other communities between municipalities and some organizations that want access to the digital data.</p><p>Last week, a California appellate court appeared to hand a near-decisive victory to those seeking public access.</p><p>In a unanimous ruling, the court determined that the basic information in municipal GIS programs must be provided to the public at a minimal cost -- no greater than the cost of copying the data.</p><p>The Sixth District Court of Appeals ruled that the GIS information was collected and maintained with public money, and therefore should be made readily available to the public.</p><p>"It's the right thing," said Walter Moody, a GIS manager for Ray Carlson &amp; Associates, a Santa Rosa land surveyor that signed an online petition in support of the lawsuit. "It's public data, so it should be provided at the cost of copying it."</p><p>Sonoma County had already made its basic GIS information such as roads, political jurisdictions and parcel numbers available online for free at its Web site, www.sonoma-county.org/prmd. It even hosts the software needed to view it, meaning most Internet users don't need to download a special program to use it.</p><p>But GIS technology has improved significantly since the court case was filed in 2006, and last Thursday's ruling might leave some wiggle room allowing local governments the option to withhold data.</p><p>The ruling said that the GIS "basemap" must be made available. But GIS technology goes beyond the basemap, government officials say.</p><p>For instance, the city of Santa Rosa captured detailed images of every city street using a technology similar to Google's Street View. The photo technology, which is more detailed than Street View, allows city workers to easily survey a potential worksite from their computer terminal, and even determine the height of objects in the photos.</p><p>But the city doesn't make these photos public, and doesn't plan to, said its chief technology officer Eric McHenry.</p><p>McHenry worries that the city photos might include compromising shots of residents, who were caught in their daily lives and had no idea the city was photographing them.</p><p>"I think that is information citizens would not want given out," McHenry said.</p><p>The city doesn't have the technology or financial resources to blur people's faces like Google does with its Street View, McHenry said.</p><p>Privacy is not an excuse to withhold information unless explicitly provided by law, said Peter Scheer, director of the California First Amendment Coalition, which successfully argued the case in the appellate court.</p><p>The coalition brought the lawsuit against the county of Santa Clara, which was charging for access to its GIS basemap. The county argued that it did not have to release the information because it could possibly be used by terrorists. The court ruled against this argument, stating the information was more valuable in the public light than hidden away.</p><p>"It is public record unless there is good reason under the law to withhold it," Scheer said.</p><p>Now the data will be more easily available to students, journalists and entrepreneurs, Scheer said.</p><p>Tim McGee, president of MoosePoint Technology in Sonoma, said the ruling made his company's GIS viewing software more valuable. Now its users will have even more data to parse.</p><p>"When our customers combine (other free) sources with detailed public data such as that from Santa Clara County, they are empowered to do much more -- creating richer maps with more meaningful analysis," McGee said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com. Check out his blog at DailyGeek.Pressdemocrat.com.</p>