The fact that this law has passed raises an interesting question: can a private citizen request and receive any and all information from a government entity about the users of that government's various assets? For instance:
1. Detailed data on the number, character, weight, etc. of every car that passes on a government road. (cameras record license plates, traffic videos exist, weigh stations are sometimes required for trucks, etc.)
2. Power companies bill the owning address for every power meter connected to the grid - therefore it should be possible to compile detailed historical data on power use. (watt-hours used, at least in monthly time-slices, possibly with geo-locating data, etc.)
3. Same as above for water use.
It seems to me that if the government is going to make it legal for a provider of services that run on government owned property (telephone/internet lines, which if not in all cases outright owned by the federal government, ARE deeply regulated by it), then why not all the databases concerning all gov. property?
1. Detailed data on the number, character, weight, etc. of every car that passes on a government road. (cameras record license plates, traffic videos exist, weigh stations are sometimes required for trucks, etc.)
2. Power companies bill the owning address for every power meter connected to the grid - therefore it should be possible to compile detailed historical data on power use. (watt-hours used, at least in monthly time-slices, possibly with geo-locating data, etc.)
3. Same as above for water use.
It seems to me that if the government is going to make it legal for a provider of services that run on government owned property (telephone/internet lines, which if not in all cases outright owned by the federal government, ARE deeply regulated by it), then why not all the databases concerning all gov. property?