CPSC Starts Redacting Outsiders' Contact Information

CPSC is redacting contact details of non-agency people from at least meeting logs. Numerous minutes posted the week of May 20 had such information blacked out. Meanwhile, only those newly posted minutes are accessible.

Clicking on the rest – nearly 2,500 going back to 1994 – loads this notice:

"We apologize that the file you requested is not currently available. This file is temporarily unavailable as part of our site content maintenance and review processes. If you email the name of the file that you need to CPSCrequest@cpsc.gov we will notify you when the file has been restored."

Earlier in May, CPSC's FAQ page on disclosures of companies' information outside the 6(b) process (PSL, 5/20/19) also suggested that the situation made it sensitive to releasing people's Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

Although referring to the large releases by the Information Clearinghouse – as opposed to meeting logs – that page (bit.ly/2JMqzHs) explained:

"CPSC identified some instances of linkable PII included in this unauthorized disclosure of information. A multi-disciplinary team, using government guidelines, performed an assessment of this PII. Its assessment resulted in the determination that the PII involved presented a low risk of harm for potentially affected individuals."