Customized Searches Customized Searches Legislatures have begun to address the issue of data manipulation. Their primary function is to permit users to manipulate data and information. Often, statutes that regulate the practice do not require an agency to manipulate computer data for requesters, but neither do they prohibit an agency's compliance with such requests.
Some statutes appear to require agencies to make reasonable efforts to provide such data.
Courts have split on whether agencies must manipulate data for a requester. State courts sometimes look to federal law for guidance. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in Long v. IRS that an agency was not required to manipulate exempt information on personal tax returns to provide a breakdown of non-exempt information. However, more recent federal cases impose greater burdens on federal agencies to search for specific information. The federal district court in San Francisco ruled in Mayock v. Immigration and Naturalization Service that an agency must search all data banks to find specific information sought.