FOIA - CPD - Global Address List (email) - RETRY

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

A CSV export of your agency's Global Address List (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/Exchange/email-addresses-and-address-books/address-lists/address-lists for more info on GALs) including the following parameters for each email address:

- Primary SMTP (email) Address
- Recepient Type Details
- Date Created

A simple way to retrieve this is by having a member of IT (such as a System Administrator) run the following command in Exchange Online PowerShell (if email is hosted in a Microsoft Exchange environment):

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Where {$_.HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled -eq $False} | Select Name,PrimarySmtpAddress,RecipientTypeDetails,WhenCreated | Export-CSV -Path .\GlobalAddressListUsers_$((Get-Date).ToString('MM-dd-yyyy_hh-mm-ss')).csv

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

J Ader

Hello,

I am appealing this FOIA request I filed with the Chicago Police Department on November 2nd, 2022. The request tracking number with CPD is P795742-110122

Here was my original request:

"Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act., I hereby request the following records:

A CSV export of your agency's Global Address List (see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/Exchange/email-addresses-and-address-books/address-lists/address-lists for more info on GALs) including the following parameters for each email address:

- Primary SMTP (email) Address
- Recepient Type Details
- Date Created

A simple way to retrieve this is by having a member of IT (such as a System Administrator) run the following command in Exchange Online PowerShell (if email is hosted in a Microsoft Exchange environment):

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Where {$_.HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled -eq $False} | Select Name,PrimarySmtpAddress,RecipientTypeDetails,WhenCreated | Export-CSV -Path .\GlobalAddressListUsers_$((Get-Date).ToString('MM-dd-yyyy_hh-mm-ss')).csv"

The response I received from the agency was a rejection, and they argued the following:

"The requested email addresses are exempt from inspection and copying, as Illinois law exempts
“[p]ersonal information contained within public records, the disclosure of which would constitute a
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy[.]” 5 ILCS 140/7(1)(c). As publicly-available email
addresses would subject these employees to invasive and unsolicited communications, the disclosure of
the requested email addresses would burden employees’ privacy interest. Additionally, the access to this
information would not advance the public interest in understanding “the affairs of government and the
official acts and policies of those who represent them[.]” 5 ILCS 140/1. See Shurtleff v. United States
Environmental Protection Agency, 991 F. Supp. 2d 1, 18 (D.D.C. Sept. 30, 2013) (“The EPA has proferred a
substantial privacy interest at stake in disclosing the official internal email address of the EPA
Administrator and the work email address of employees at the EOP: these few individuals have ‘a
significant personal interest in preventing the burden of unsolicited emails and harassment."

First off, public email addresses are do not qualify as "personal information" under FOIA.

Second, the public interest is imperative - these are note even email addresses of individuals (mooting the "harassment" and "privacy" points greatly), they are Shared Mailboxes of a public agency.

Please see the attachment here as well for my original request, filed electronically via Muckrock.com.

Regards,
- J. Ader