http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/opinion/bar-official-use-of-evasion-apps-1.2365020

When Gutenberg invented a printing press using movable type in the mid-1400s, many monarchs responded by burning books. Some things don’t change, even as information technology relentlessly changes. In a representative democracy, public disclosure laws should not even be necessary because good governance depends upon the free flow of information. But in practice, accountability and transparency by public officials remains a heavy lift because controlling information also is a fundamental aspect of political power. The rapid expansion of digital information technology should make public disclosure even more fundamental because so many people have the potential for direct digital access through the computers in their pockets. But some politicians continue to argue, absurdly, that a digital record is not subject to the same disclosure standard as a paper record, and use digital technology to obscure rather than illuminate public data. Pennsylvania has had its share of examples, most notably the efforts by several high-ranking state officials to prevent the public revelation that they had used state email systems to distribute pornography and other inappropriate material. That case proved, at least, that documents created on public electronic information systems generally are public records. Many of those documents were discovered several years after their creation. Now, a new generation of applications offers the ability to quickly and permanently destroy documents soon after they are created and transmitted to another party. That is one thing in terms of protecting personal privacy; it is something else and totally inappropriate for public records. The issue arose this year when disgraced former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and several of his staff used such an app for communications among themselves regarding public business. Greitens later claimed the app was used only for insignificant matters, but that begs the question of why he believed it was necessary to destroy the information. In neighboring Kansas, Gov. Jeff Colyer issued an executive order in February requiring the executive branch to use only official email accounts for all public business. The history of public disclosure is simple: If governments can evade it, they will. Gov. Tom Wolf should follow Colyer’s lead with an order mandating use of only official email, and the Legislature should outlaw use of evasion apps by any public official for public business.