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Activist Texas Supreme Court ruling neuters government accountability

The Texas Supreme Court has issued a terrible decision  making secret state employees' birthdays, a move that essentially eliminates the ability of reporters and other outside investigators to distinguish them from others with the same name in public documents. Unless you've worked as an investigative reporter or opposition researcher, looking into misconduct by government employees with common names, it would be easy to underestimate how important it is to keep such information public.The stated reason for the decision was to prevent identity theft, but that's a red herring. In practice, a birthday alone is not sufficient to steal someone's identity, anymore than millions of people listing their birthdates on Facebook substantially risks identity theft...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on December 06, 2010 (boomark / email).