Section 1. Introduction. These rules pertain to the maintenance and accessibility of records administered by the Governor's Office of Wyoming as authorized by Wyoming Statute. With these rules, it is the intention of this office to establish good practices in the handling of personally identifiable information entrusted to this agency for application to all agency personnel and to establish a procedure whereby an individual may view any public record and may correct or amend any information supplied to this office, in accordance with W.S. 9-692.1.
Section 2. Definitions.
a. Access. A way or means of approaching, obtaining, using, etc; the ability to obtain the information contained in a record.
b. Agency. Any authority, bureau, board, commission, committee, or subagency or the state, county, municipality or other political subdivision which is created by or pursuant to the Wyoming Constitution, statute, or ordinance, other than the state legislature and the judiciary.
c. Confidential. The status of personal information according to federal regulations, state statutes, executive order, or agency or regulations that connotes some commitment to withhold from authorized users information obtained from an individual or institution.
d. Disclosure. Providing an individual (other than those authorized access for routine use) the information contained in a record; the release or transfer of information through oral, written, or electronic means.
e. File. Any aggregation of individual records gathered for a particular purpose and orga- nized or indexed as a unit.
f. Financial. Fiscal, relating to salary, benefits, profits, debts of and individual.
g. Individual. Any man, woman, or child, or place of business or organization on whom an agency keeps records or maintains information.
h. Interest. A right or claim to something; share or participation in something; advantage; welfare; benefit; importance; concern.
i. Medical. Of or connected with medicine or the practice or study of medicine.
j. Personal Information. All information that describes anything about an individual such as identifying characteristics, measurements, or test scores; evidences things done by or to an individual, such as records of financial transactions, medical treatments, or other services; any information that is or can be retrieved from a record or record-keeping system by reference to the name, number, or some other identifying feature associated with the individual to whom the information pertains.
k. Privileged Information. Information that one cannot legally be compelled to divulge, as that to a lawyer from his client; information given with the stipulation that it shall not be divulged further.
l. Psychological. Of the mind; mental.
m. Public Interest. Something in which the public, the community at large, has some par- ticular interest, or some interest by which their legal rights or liabilities are affected; interest shared by citizens generally in affairs of local, state or national government.
n. Record. Any grouping of information about an individual that is maintained in the file of an agency or organization that contains a name or identifying number or symbol assigned to the indi- vidual used to make a decision about the rights, character, opportunities, benefits, or liabilities of the individual to whom the record pertains.
o. Responsible Authority. Any office established by state law as the body responsible for the collection and use of any system of record on persons or summary data; the official involved, or if more than one state official involved, the official designated by the Director of Information Practices.
p. Right To Know. Conferred upon specific individuals either by statute or jurisprudence to execute the statutory function of the information maintained.
q. Right to Privacy. The individual's right to be left alone, to decide for himself how much he will share with others his thoughts, his feelings, and the facts of his personal life.
r. Routine Use. The use of a record for the purpose for which it was collected according to statutory authority or agency regulation.
s. Sociological. Having to do with the associated life of an individual; social identifiers relating to interaction with society.
t. Statistical Record. A record maintained for statistical research or reporting purposes only and not used in whole or in part in making any determination about an identifiable individual.
u. Subject. An individual or legal entity about whom personal information is maintained in an information system.
v. System of Record. A group of any records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.
w. Trade Secrets. A plan or process, tool, mechanism, or compound known only to its owner and those of his employees to whom it is necessary to confide it; a secret formula or process having commercial value.
Section 3. Disclosure. Personal information systems maintained by this office are largely in a custodial capacity, access to and amendment of determined by the originating agency according to content of the particular record. Information systems generated by this office include files relating to the many boards and commissions on which the Governor sits, legislative and judicial proceedings including extensive correspondence with all branches of state and federal government, potential nominees for gubernatorial appointments, personal correspondence, personnel files of office employees, and griev- ance/appeals records. Records that are generated by this office and determined to be public records shall be available for inspection to all inquirers without regard to intended use or purpose during normal business hours. Records that are determined to have a confidential classification shall not be communi- cated to any person who is not the subject of the record unless that person provides written consent for this agency to disclose such confidential record to any other person or organization. The Governor's Office may disclose the contents of a confidential record without prior written consent under the follow- ing situations:
a. To an individual who clearly shows a compelling circumstance affecting the health or safety of the subject of the record.
b. To the State Archives as a record which warrants continued preservation.
c. To an individual who has provided this office with written assurance that the record will be used solely for statistical research and the record is to be transferred in a form that is not individually identifiable.
d. To another governmental agency for law enforcement activity, provided the requesting agency has made a prior written request to this office specifying the particular record and the enforce- ment activity for which it is sought.
e. To other agencies or organizations within state government which have a statutorily authorized need for the record.
f. To the officers and employees of this office who have a clearly established need for the record in order to carry out legal duties.
g. On order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
When this agency is forced to disclose the contents of an individuals record under compulsory legal process, the responsible authority will notify the individual of the record of the disclosure.
Section 4. Request for Access. The individual has the right to know what information state government maintains on him subject to restrictions imposed by the Wyoming Public Records Act (W.S.9-692.3). Subsequently, this agency is obligated to allow an individual to physically handle all of the contents of a record on him subject to restrictions imposed by the originating agency and to receive copies of such data at his own expense for his personal possession. This agency reserves the right to make the determination as to whether agency records do contain information that pertains to the indi- vidual. The responsible authority has the right to apply to the district court for an order permitting him to restrict access to such record whenever in the responsible authorities judgment disclosure of the contents would do substantial injury to "the public interest". When denying access to any record, the responsible authority will inform the requester of the statutory basis for denial of access.
Section 5. Procedure for Access. This agency shall respond to requests for access to a record within a reasonable time period, specifying whether access will be granted, the time and place where disclosure is to be made. The requester may be accompanied by another person of his or her choosing or may be represented by another person with the requesters written approval. Access will be provided during regular working hours. The original documents may not be removed from the agency. Copies of the record may be provided at the requesters expense at a cost per page to cover the cost of copying and compiling the requested data. This agency shall request appropriate identification of the inquirer to be presented at the time of access.
Section 6. Correction and Amendment. The individual who is the subject of a record has the right to bring to the attention of the responsible authority any erroneous, inaccurate, or misleading information that is contained in his record. The individual of the record has the right to correct or amend such inaccuracies with a written request to the responsible authority of the originating agency identifying the specific record to be corrected, the erroneous portion of the record and the proposed amendment. Correction or amendment may be by physical alteration of the record or by the inclusion of the individu- als "version" of the disputed data upon receipt of authorization to correct or amend from the originating agency. All future use of the record shall include the individuals corrections or amendments.
Section 7. Personnel Records. The individual who is an employee of this agency has the right to view his own employment application, performance ratings, and scholastic achievement data received as part of state employee training that is maintained within the personnel files of this agency or those of the Personnel Division of DAFC. All of the contents of an individual's personnel file shall be available to the duly elected and appointed officials who supervise the work of the employee and to past employ- ees of this agency of whom the record pertains. Responses to inquiries concerning the status of present or past employees of this agency shall be referred to the Personnel Division of DAFC. Requests for recommendations of past employees shall be limited to employment dates and responsibilities, the gross annual salary of a present or past employee, in addition to an affirmative or simple negative response. This agency shall be prepared to fully document and defend any negative recommendation of a former employee, allowing that employee, if he requests, to receive a full written explanation of the negative recommendation. Further, this agency shall allow the former employee to enter his version of the facts surrounding his employment with this agency to be made available to any future employer upon authori- zation of the former employee.
Section 8. Maintenance of Records. When soliciting information for the individual, this agency shall give the following notifications on the form used to solicit the information or on a separate form:
a. The statutory or administrative authority or federal regulation that allows this agency to solicit such information.
b. The purpose and uses for which the information is sought.
c. The public/confidential classification of the solicited information.
d. The voluntary/mandatory status of the questions asked of individuals and the effects, if any, of not providing all solicited information.
This agency shall give the following annual notifications to the Office of Information Practices for each personal information system maintained:
a. The title and location of the system.
b. The major data elements of the system.
c. The statutory authority for the classification and collection of information.
d. The title, business address, and phone number of the responsible authority for the system.
In addition, this agency shall:
a. Maintain any record that is used to make determinations about an individual with such accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness as is reasonably necessary to assure fairness to the individual.
b. Non maintain any record on how an individual exercises his rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
c. Not maintain any system of records whose very existence is a secret from the public.
d. Establish physical safeguards and specific security policies for the protection of each system from burglary, misuse, or destruction.
e. Give timely notice to the Office of Information Practices when any new personal informa- tion system is added to this agency's operation or when there is any new routine use of an established system.
f. Maintain all systems of personal information in a manner that is conducive to public inspection and access.
g. Maintain only that information about an individual necessary to accomplish the agency's purposes as authorized by statute.
h. Collect information to the greatest extent possible directly from the individual who is the subject of the record.
Section 9. Mailing Lists. Requests for names and addresses maintained by this agency will be refused unless the requester can prove to the satisfaction of the responsible authority and the Director of the Office of Information Practices that release of the information will promote the health or safety of the citizens of Wyoming. All inquirers of mailing lists shall be notified within an appropriate time period as to whether their request has been approved or denied. The requester may be required to complete a Request for Information form identifying the organization or person making the request, a copy of any material to be mailed, and a guarantee that the names and addresses furnished will be used only for the stated purpose and will not be transferred to any other party or to a computerized data system. If the request for a mailing list is denied, this agency shall so inform the requester within an appropriate time period and the statutory authority for the refusal.