Supreme Court of Arizona Holds Metadata is a Public Record
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Arizona held, in a unanimous decision, that under the state’s public records laws any entity that maintains electronic records must disclose those records along with embedded metadata. Lake v. City of Phoenix et al, No. CV-09-0036.
I'm certainly no expert, but doesn't this paragraph at the end just invite mass confusion?
We do not here decide when a public entity is required
to retain public records in electronic format. That a public
record currently exists in an electronic format, and is subject
to disclosure in that format, does not itself determine whether
there is a statutory obligation to preserve it electronically.