Village of Elmwood Park properly redacted home address and phone number as private information
The requester sought unredacted contact information for a private citizen involved in a dog bite incident report.
Plain-language summary
A resident requested an unredacted police incident report to get the contact information of another dog owner involved in an incident. The Village redacted the owner's home address and phone number, and the PAC agreed that this information is legally protected as 'private information.' Because the law exempts this data from disclosure, the PAC closed the case without requiring the Village to release it.
Legal question
Does the definition of 'private information' under 5 ILCS 140/2(c-5) and the exemption in 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(b) allow a public body to redact a private citizen's home address and phone number from an incident report?
Holding
The Village of Elmwood Park properly redacted home addresses and personal telephone numbers from an incident report as 'private information' under section 7(1)(b) of FOIA.
Summary
The requester sought an unredacted incident report from the Village of Elmwood Park to obtain another dog owner's contact information, but the PAC determined the redactions were proper under FOIA.
Issues decided in this letter
Each question the Public Access Bureau decided, with the rule it applied. Extracted automatically from the letter; the source PDF is authoritative.
- No violationFOIA section 7(1)(b)
Redaction of home address and phone number
Rule applied: Home addresses and home or personal telephone numbers are private information exempt from disclosure under FOIA, even if the requester needs them for reimbursement.