Sensitivity Assessment At the core of Tyler’s Open Data Program is a tension between striving for transparency while simultaneously ensuring the security of protected information. As indicated by Figure 3, multiple parties have the opportunity to review a dataset for sensitivities related to privacy and security— Data Coordinators, and the Performance Excellence Manager will assess every new dataset, and the legal department will have the opportunity to review particularly contentious datasets. These redundant checks for protected data exist because every dataset is unique and many sensitivities can be quite nuanced, demanding a careful weighing of risks and benefits. Tyler’s open data policy defines protected data as follows: Trade secrets (Which may include vendor software, technical specifications or other intellectual property); Proprietary information such as license agreements or fees, copyrights, patents, etc. Personal identifying information as defined by Texas State Law; Information contained in the City’s personnel files as provided by Texas State Law, except for certain categories that must be disclosed; Information related to criminal investigations conducted by the City and records of criminal intelligence information compiled by the City; Billing information of customers compiled and maintained in connection with the City providing utility services; Sensitive security information as defined for Protection of Sensitive Security Information in title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 1520 regarding Homeland Security; Building plans of City-owned buildings or infrastructure; Local tax records of the City that contain information about a taxpayer’s income or receipts; The security features of the City’s electronic data processing systems, information technology systems, telecommunications networks, or electronic security systems as provided by Texas State Law. Any data collected from a person applying for financial or other types of assistance including, but not limited to, their income and bank accounts, etc. Any data protected from disclosure under applicable federal or state law. Though the Performance Excellence Manager identifies sensitivity issues during the data prioritization phase and before upload, a thorough review of all privacy and security concerns is
Active monitoring of dataset freshness. The Performance Excellence Manager will track each dataset on the portal. The Performance Excellence Manager will alert Data Coordinators when a dataset is identified as out of date and needs to be refreshed. Automation. For datasets that need to be updated at least once per month or more, the Performance Excellence Manager will work with Data Coordinators and the IT database administrator to implement automatic updates, where appropriate. The Data Coordinator will need to provide the Performance Excellence Manager with read access for the relevant files and databases. Purchasing guidelines for city applications and sensors In order to ensure a robust supply of open data, Tyler must strive to ensure that its many different sensors and software applications are capable of exporting data in a format that is compatible with our open data portal software. Both the purchasing department and individual city departments initiating purchases that will result in the collection of data should consider open data as a factor when finalizing purchases. This section is intended to facilitate that review. Provision of Data to the Portal All applications and analyses employed by Tyler, whether constructed in-house or procured from vendors, should produce data capable of being published to the Tyler Open Data Portal. With the exception of protected data, including confidential business information and other information protected from disclosure under federal or state law, data provided to Tyler will be supplied without IP restrictions on use. Data can be published to the Portal through Information Builders Performance Management Framework. For tabular datasets, the Portal supports the following file types: CSV TSV XLS XLSX Tabular datasets may include text, numbers (including money and percentages), Booleans, URLs and email addresses, locations, and dates/times. Upon upload, the Portal can automatically geocode tabular datasets that include geospatial data such as addresses. Any application that geocodes data before upload must specify geocoding methodology. For geospatial data, the Portal supports KML, KMZ, and ESRI Shapefiles. Additionally, the Portal accepts non-data file types such as PDF. However, preference is given to applications and analyses that produce machine readable files. If a Data Coordinator identifies a potential dataset that does not conform to compatible file format that the current portal(s) accept(s), the Data Coordinator will coordinate with the Performance Excellence Manager to determine the best solution to incorporate the dataset in question to the appropriate portal.