The Importance of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

Last year, TexasPHS filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). We posted the results of that FOIA request on a 2020 blog post relating to the Registered Sanitarian examination.

A staff member later discovered that the data provided by TDLR was completely inaccurate and misleading. When TexasPHS contacted TDLR on the mistake, this was their response:

Thank you for your follow-up inquiry. After consulting with the TDLR subject matter experts and our programming team, it was determined the discrepancy was the result of a programming coding error. Therefore, this is confirm that consists of the accurate data responsive to your request.  

If you still wish to speak the subject matter experts in the TDLR Education and Examination Division, you may reach them at education@tdlr.texas.gov. If you wish to speak with the TDLR Open Records Attorney, please respond to this message by providing a valid telephone number, date, and  time that is convenient for her to call you. Please note that as we continue to work remotely, our Open Records Attorney may call you from a Private Number.

There’s a few quite alarming details from this response from TDLR.

First, there was absolutely no apology from TDLR for the faulty data provided as a result of a programming coding error.

Second, there are grammatical mistakes in TDLR’s response. What does “this is confirm that consists of the accurate data responsive to your request” even mean!?

Third, what if this was a FOIA request relating to foodborne illness data, injury and death at Texas childcare centers, Covid-19 data, et cetera? TexasPHS’ FOIA request for test examination data is benign compared to the potentially harmful mistake related to other data sets.

The biggest takeaway from this blog post is to encourage all public and environmental health professionals be upfront, honest, and apologetic when we make mistakes. As health inspectors, we communicate with all sorts of people in the community–business owners, citizens, restaurateurs, food workers, contractors, and government agencies. When we make professional mistakes, mark a wrong violation on an inspection report, or provide inaccurate information, it is important to apologize for the mistake and develop a solution.