McCollum
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced a new policy on Tuesday that promotes open government and transparency when it comes to blackberry messages.
McCollum's office will now treat all Blackberry PIN messages and Blackberry text messages as public records by retaining all messages that travel through the agency's server.
"The evolution of technology should be an asset, not an obstacle, to transparency and accountability," McCollum said.
"This policy will allow for both government efficiency and more open government."
The Republican, who is running for governor, also announced plans to form a Sunshine Technology Team to explore the open government requirements as related to electronic communications and emerging technology.
The team will be led by the Attorney General's Chief of Staff and will include input from public records advocates, technology experts, media specialists, communications officials and government officials.
Other forms of electronic communications that will be reviewed will include text messaging, instant messaging and voice-over internet protocol.