Arizona Supreme Court Rules that Metadata is Public Record

In the case of David Lake v. City of Phoenix, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that metadata is public record and subject to disclosure under public records law.

In the case, Officer David Lake of the Phoenix Police Department filed a complaint and federal lawsuit alleging employment discrimination and alleged that notes kept by his supervisor had been backdated and requested metadata of the file to ascertain the true creation date, access dates and who accessed the file. The city denied the request, contending that metadata is not public record.

Judge Norris found that:"[w]hen . . . [an] electronically created document is a public record, then so too is its metadata."

See link for case here.