FOI Commission, press groups push to modernize FOIA — define smartphones as handheld scanners and streamline technical definitions

The Freedom of Information Commission and Connecticut media advocates urged the Government Oversight Committee on Thursday to approve House Bill 6,882, a largely technical bill that updates the Freedom of Information Act for modern technology and other clarifications.

"One of the most significant changes included there is a provision that allows people to use smartphones to take photographs of public records," Russell Blair, director of education and communications at the Freedom of Information Commission, told the committee. Blair noted that the existing law explicitly references handheld scanners but does not mention smartphones and that the bill would clarify that mobile phones and cameras can be used as a method of copying public records.

Blair said HB 6,882 is otherwise largely technical, including definition alignment with FERPA and other clarifications; the bill would not change FOIA's fee structure. Michelle Jacquelyn, co‑president of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, said the council "strongly support[s]" HB 6,882 and described Section 4 — expanding the definition of handheld scanner to include mobile phones and cameras — as bringing Connecticut "into the 21st century." She said the change would make it easier for citizens to copy public records and reduce local staff workload.

The committee posed no substantive objections during the public hearing and recorded the testimony for the committee website.

Why it matters: The measure updates FOIA for common modern practice and could ease public access to records by explicitly allowing photography with mobile devices, while keeping other FOIA provisions intact.

What’s next: HB 6,882 will remain in committee for consideration; committee members may request technical drafting edits noted by the FOI Commission.