Guide for the General Public
The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. Chap. 13, gives the public the right to inspect and have copies of public data that state agencies keep.
Your Right to Access Public Data
The law presumes that all government data are public unless a state or federal law says the data are not public. "Government data" means all data collected, created, received, maintained, or disseminated by any government entity regardless of its physical form, storage media or conditions of use. The law also sets requirements for how DEED maintains government data.
You have the right to inspect - free of charge - all public data that we keep. You also have the right to get copies of public data, but we are allowed to charge for those copies.
How to Make a Data Request
To inspect data or to request copies of data that we keep, you must make a written request. Please use the Request to Inspect and/or Copy Government Data form.
If you choose not to use the form, your written request should include:
- A statement that you, as a member of the public, are making a request for data under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. Chap. 13.
- Your preference as to whether you would like to inspect the data, receive physical copies of the data, or receive electronic copies of the data.
- A clear and specific description of the data you would like to inspect or have copied.
Please submit your data request to DEED.datapractices@state.mn.us. We process data requests in order of receipt.
How We Respond to a Data Request
Upon receiving your written request, we will work to process it:
- We may ask you to clarify what data you are seeking.
- If we do not have the data, we will notify you in writing as soon as reasonably possible.
- If we have the data, but the data are not public, we will notify you in writing as soon as reasonably possible and identify the law(s) that prevents us from providing you that data.
- If we have the data, and the data are public, we will respond to your request by doing one of the following:
- Arrange a date, time, and place to inspect data, for free, if your request is to inspect the data;
- Provide you with copies of the data via email;
- Arrange a date, time, and place for you to pick up your physical copies; or
- We will mail the data to you.
We may charge a fee for providing copies:
- Information that is produced for public distribution (such as brochures, annual reports, etc.) is generally free. However, DEED is authorized by Minn. Stat. 116J.63 to sell marketing material, at cost, when quantities of material originally paid for by the general fund are requested.
- For public data not prepared for public distribution:
- For copies of 100 or fewer pages of black-and-white letter- or legal-sized paper copies, you must pay a flat rate of:
- $.25 for each page
- $.50 for a two-sided copy
- For copies of 101 or more pages, you must pay the actual cost for employee time to search for and retrieve the data, and the cost to make paper copies or print copies of electronically stored data.
- There is an additional fee for providing copies of data that have commercial value, providing data in a different form or arrangement, creating data, and preparing summary data. Summary data are statistical records or reports that are prepared by removing all identifiers from private or confidential data on individuals. The preparation of summary data is not a means to gain access to private or confidential data. We may agree to prepare summary data if you make your request in writing and pre-pay for the cost of creating the data. Upon receiving your written request, we will respond as promptly as possible, providing the data or details of when the data will be ready and how much we will charge.
If we are asked to mail copies, the fee will include postage.
Copies will be made in black and white. Payment must be made before copies of the data are provided. If payment is not made within 30 days after we provide notice that the data is available, the request will be cancelled.
We will respond to your request within a reasonable time. The timing of our response to your request may be affected by the complexity of your request, the amount of data that you seek, and the number of requests that we received in a given time period.
We are not required to create or collect new data in response to a data request if we do not already have the data, or to provide data in a specific form or arrangement if we do not keep the data in that form or arrangement (for example, if the data you request are only on paper, we are not required to create electronic documents to respond to your request). If we agree to create data in response to your request, we will work with you on the details of your request, including cost and response time.
In addition, we are not required to answer questions that are not about your requests for data.
Last reviewed 7/31/2023.
Guide for Individual Data Subjects
The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, per Minn. Stat. Chap. 13, gives every individual important rights when state agencies collect, create, store, use, or release data about that individual. This Guide explains the rights you have as a data subject.
Data about You
You are the subject of data if you can be identified from the data that DEED collects, creates, and keeps. Government data means all data collected, created, received, maintained, or disseminated by any government entity regardless of its physical form, storage media or conditions of use. The law also sets requirements for how DEED maintains government data.
DEED may only collect and keep data about you if it has a business or governmental purpose to do so.
Classification of Data about You
The law presumes that all government data are public unless a state or federal law says that the data are not public. Data about you are classified by state law as public, private, or confidential.
- Public data: This is data that anyone can see. We must give public data to anyone who asks; it does not matter who is asking for the data or why.
- Private data: This is data that you can see when it is about you. We cannot give private data to the general public, but you have access when the data is about you. We can share your private data with you, with someone who has your permission, with DEED staff who need the data to do their work, and with others as permitted by law or court order.
- Confidential data: This is data that you cannot see. Confidential data has the most protection. We cannot give members of the public any access to confidential data about you. Nor can we give you direct access to confidential data even when the confidential data is about you. We can share confidential data about you with DEED staff who need the data to do their work and to others as permitted by law or court order.
Your Access to Your Data
You have the right to inspect public and private data that we keep about you free of charge.
You also have the right to get copies of public and private data about you, but the law allows us to charge you for copies.
How to Make a Request for Your Data
- For Individual Data Subjects
To inspect your data or to request copies of data that DEED keeps about you, you must make a written request. Please use the Request to Inspect and/or Copy Government Data form.
If you choose not to use the form, your written request should include:
- A statement that you, as a data subject, are making a request for data about you under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. Chap. 13.
- Your preference as to whether you would like to inspect the data, receive physical copies of the data, or receive electronic copies of the data.
- A clear and specific description of the data you would like to inspect or have copied.
- Identifying information that proves you are the data subject or the data subject's parent/guardian.
Please submit your data request to DEED.datapractices@state.mn.us.
- For Minors, Parent(s) or Legally-Appointed Guardian(s)
As a parent, you have the right to look at and get copies of public and private data about your minor children (under the age of 18). As a legally appointed guardian, you have the right to look at and get copies of public and private data about an individual for whom you are appointed guardian.
However, minors have the right to ask us not to give data about themselves to their parent or guardian. If you are a minor, we will tell you that you have this right. We may ask you to put your request in writing and to include the reasons why we should deny your parents/guardian access to the data. We will make the final decision about your request based on your best interests based on the following factors:
- Whether you are of sufficient age and maturity to be able to explain the reasons for and to understand the consequences of the request to deny access;
- Whether your personal situation is such that denying parental access may protect you from physical or emotional harm;
- Whether there is ground for believing that your reasons for precluding parental access are reasonably accurate;
- Whether the data in question is of such a nature that disclosure of it to your parent could lead to physical or emotional harm; and
- Whether the data concerns medical, dental, or other health services provided pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, sections 144.341 to 144.347. If so, the data may be released only if failure to inform the parent would seriously jeopardize the health of the minor.
Note: Minors do not have this right if the data in question are educational data maintained by an educational agency or institution.
To inspect data or request copies of data that DEED keeps, you must make a written request. Please use the Request to Inspect and/or Copy Government Data form. Please submit your data request to DEED.datapractices@state.mn.us.
- Proof of Identity
We require proof of your identity before we can respond to your request for private data. If you are requesting data about your minor child, you must show proof that you are the minor's parent. If you are a guardian, you must show legal documentation of your guardianship. The following examples constitute proof of identity:
For individuals
- A valid photo ID, such as a state driver's license, a military ID, a passport, a tribal ID, or a school/student ID.
For the parent or guardian of a minor
- A valid photo ID and either:
- A copy of the minor's birth certificate; or
- A copy of documents that establish the parent or guardian's relationship to the child, such as a court order relating to divorce, separation, custody, foster care; a foster care contract; or an affidavit of parentage.
For the legal guardian of an individual
- A valid photo ID and a copy of appropriate documentation (such as a court order or valid power of attorney) of formal or informal appointment as guardian, such as a court order or valid power of attorney.
DEED has the right to request additional documentation as needed to determine the proof of your identity.
How We Respond to a Data Request
Once you make your written request, we will work to process your request.
- We may ask you to clarify what data you are seeking.
- If we do not have the data, we will notify you in writing within 10 business days.
- If we have the data, but the data is confidential or not public data that is not about you, we will notify you in writing within 10 business days and identify the law(s) that prevents us from providing you that data.
- If we have the data, and the data are public or private data about you, we will respond to your request within 10 business days, by doing one of the following:
- Arrange a date, time, and place to inspect data, for free, if your request is to inspect the data;
- Provide you with copies of the data via email;
- Arrange a date, time, and place for you to pick up your physical copies; or
- We will mail them to you.
The law allows us to charge you for copies. Copy costs for a request made by a data subject only include the actual cost of materials and the actual cost for an employee to make paper copies or to print copies of electronically stored data. Copies will be made in black and white. Payment must be made in advance of receiving the data.
We are not required to create or collect new data in response to a data request if we do not already have the data, or to provide data in a specific form or arrangement if we do not keep the data in that form or arrangement (for example, if the data you request are only on paper, we are not required to create electronic documents to respond to your request). If we agree to create data in response to your request, we will work with you on the details of your request, including cost and response time.
In addition, we are not required to respond to questions that are not requests for data.
Collecting your Data
When we ask you to provide data about yourself that are not public, we must give you a notice called a Tennessen warning. The notice controls what we do with the data that we collect from you. Usually, we can use and release the data only in the ways described in the notice.
We will ask for your written permission if we need to use or release private data about you in a different way, or if you ask us to release the data to another person. This permission is called informed consent.
Protecting your Data
The law requires us to protect your data. We have established appropriate safeguards to ensure that your data is safe.
In the unfortunate event that we determine a security incident has occurred and an unauthorized person has improperly gained access to your data, we will notify you as required by law.
When your Data are Inaccurate and/or Incomplete
You have the right to challenge the accuracy and/or completeness of public and private data about you. You also have the right to appeal our decision. If you are a minor, your parent or guardian has the right to challenge data about you.
Your data challenge must be in writing, describe the nature of the disagreement with specificity, and be submitted to DEED.datapractices@state.mn.us.
Last reviewed 7/31/2023.
