Geolocation data providers (Department of Corrections)
| Multi Request | Geolocation data providers |
| Submitted | July 7, 2021 |
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Communications
From: Beryl Lipton
To Whom It May Concern:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) seeks records describing the relationship between your agency and third-party providers of geolocation data. In particular, we seek records related to:
• the location data provider Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel
• Babel Street’s service Locate X
• the location data provider INRIX
For the purposes of this request, the term “geolocation data” refers to GPS data acquired from cell phone apps, connected vehicles, or other connected devices, or from third-party aggregators of such data, which pertains to the location of individual persons or devices, whether identified or de-identified.
We request the following records for the period between January 1, 2015 and the present:
• All contracts or written agreements between Department of Corrections, or consultants thereof, and Gravy Analytics, Venntel, or Babel Street;
• All presentations, marketing materials, or proposals by contractors, subcontractors, or consultants working with Department of Corrections relating to the use of geolocation data from Gravy Analytics, Venntel, or Babel Street;
• All technical documentation, guides, presentations, or policies describing access to, storage of, or use of geolocation data acquired from Gravy Analytics, Venntel, or Babel Street;
• All privacy policies, memoranda of understanding, data-sharing agreements, or terms of use applying to geolocation data acquired from Gravy Analytics, Venntel, or Babel Street;
• All written communications, emails, and attachments between Department of Corrections and Gravy Analytics, Venntel, or Babel Street;
• All written communications, emails, attachments, contracts, presentations, technical documentation, and other materials between Department of Corrections and INRIX or referencing INRIX.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Sincerely,
Beryl Lipton
Investigative Researcher, Electronic Frontier Foundation
beryl.lipton@eff.org
From: Department of Corrections
Dear Mr. Lipton,
This email acknowledges receipt by the Department of Corrections of your written request for records under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). Your request was received by this office on July 9, 2021. A final response will be sent at a later time as outlined below.
You are hereby notified that, for the reason set forth below, the Department will require an additional 30 calendar days, i.e. until August 13, 2021, in which to provide a final written response to your request:
* A legal review is necessary to determine whether the record requested is subject to access under the Act.
At this time, the Department is unable to provide you with an estimated cost to fulfill your current request if it is granted. Any actual or estimated fees will be identified in the Department’s future response.
Sincerely,
Andrew Filkosky
Agency Open Records Officer
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Pennsylvania Right to Know Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on July 7, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Corrections
Dear Mr. Lipton,
This response acknowledges receipt by the Department of Corrections of your written request for records under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). Your request was received by this office on July 9, 2021. an interim response was sent to you extending the final response date to August 13, 2021.
The information you are seeking in the email request below is denied for the following reason:
* The record(s) that you requested do not currently exist. When responding to a request for access, an agency is not required to create a record which does not currently exist or to compile, format or organize a public record in a manner in which it does not currently compile, format or organize the public record. 65 P.S. § 67.705; See Moore v. Office of Open Records, 992 A.2d 907, 909 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2010)(“The Department cannot grant access to a record that does not exist. Because under the current RTKL the Department cannot be made to create a record which does not exist, the OOR properly denied [the] … appeal.”); See also Bargeron v. Department of Labor and Industry, 720 A.2d 500 (Pa.Cmwlth. 1998). See also McGowan v. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 103 A.3d 374, 382-83 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2014) (“In the absence of any competent evidence that the agency acted in bad faith or that the agency records exist, “the averments in the [d]epartment’s affidavits should be accepted as true.”).
You have a right to appeal the above denial of information in writing to the Executive Director, Office of Open Records (OOR), 333 Market Street, 16th Floor, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101. If you choose to file an appeal you must do so within 15 business days of the mailing date of this response and send to the OOR:
1) this response; 2) your request; and 3) the reason why you think the agency is wrong in its reasons for saying that the record is not public (a statement that addresses any ground stated by the agency for the denial). If the agency gave several reasons why the record is not public, state which ones you think were wrong.
Also, the OOR has an appeal form available on the OOR website at:
http://www.openrecords.pa.gov/RTKL/Forms.cfm.
Sincerely,
Andrew Filkosky
Agency Open Records Officer
Files
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