New Database

The Register has this article about the new reports database for the Iowa State Patrol.

The story - Reports on traffic accidents investigated by the Iowa State Patrol are now available online, and reports on other incidents and crimes will soon follow, officials said Friday.

The headline - State Patrol's online reports exclude data

The backstory - Officials have decided to withhold some details from the reports, including the blood-alcohol levels of drivers who are given breath tests. Among the other pieces of information kept off the reports are drivers' dates of birth, home addresses and license plate numbers.

[O]pen-government advocates argue that the reports will be made less useful without the inclusion of driver information that could aid in the research of unsafe drivers.

My take:
Privacy concerns, anyone? I mean, the date of birth is a dead issue because it's already online through the Iowa Court system. But there aren't home addresses, license plate numbers, and so forth on there. What if someone has an unlisted address for a good reason (read: stalking victim)? How about the fact that PBT's are not admissible in court because of unreliability issues? You want suspects' social security numbers on there as well? An open online database is very different from a Freedom of Information Act request, and I'm not so sure we want every detail from the reports listed.