Your records are more public than you think

Almost two years ago, we noted that public records requests can be used to harass faculty doing research someone doesn't like.  If you were at Stanford or USC, your records would be more protected than at UCLA because those institutions are private.  Emails, data sets, etc., are potentially at risk.  Our earlier post is at:
http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/04/u-of-wisconsin-email-case.html

Yesterday, the Daily Bruin carried a story about an Academic Senate task force formed in late 2011 which is looking into this question at UCLA.  Apparently, the task force is going to release a final report soon.  You can find the story at:

http://dailybruin.com/2013/02/28/task-force-tackles-concerns-on-public-records-requests/

In the meantime, keep in mind that few communications and records are truly private.