First Public Case of Critical Infrastructure Information

A New Jersey resident, requesting access to a township's electronic map of land parcels, has brought to light the first public example of a law that hides information that meets standards for "critical infrastructure information" (CII). The local municipal utility denied the resident’s request for land parcel information, because the data had been protected by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the CII program. The Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority, which manages the city's water and sewer systems, took over the township's global information system (GIS) database of land parcels, which is used for property taxes, in the early 1990s. A 2003 request by a local resident for the data apparently prompted the utility to submit the information to DHS for CII protection. Under a provision of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, companies may voluntarily submit information to DHS concerning the security or vulnerability of critical infrastructure. If accepted into the CII program, the information receives special protection and may no longer be released under federal or state open records laws. However, why the township land ownership information would qualify for the program is unclear. Once the CII status was approved in a June 5 letter from DHS, the utility denied the request for information. Even though CII status protects the information from release it is unclear if the protection extends to requests made prior to its submittal to the program. It should also be noted that while the municipal utility refuses to grant the resident free access to the database, they publicly offer paper copies of the maps for $5 a piece, leading some to speculate that the utility submitted the information to DHS specifically to avoid releasing the data for free.
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