County Stops Selling GIS Data; Cites Security Risk

Santa Clara County, California, has stopped selling GIS data, citing concerns the information could end up in the hands of terrorists. But the plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the high costs of that data claim the security concerns are nothing more than a convenient cover.

More from the San Jose Mercury News:

The lawsuit brought by the First Amendment Coalition alleges the county overcharges for the mapping information - which shows the location of property lines, roads, water and sewer lines and more...

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At the old price of $150,000 for the data necessary to create a map of the entire county, only a telecommunications company and some other government entities have bought and used the data and its accompanying code.

The News says that after Santa Clara County was sued, officials asked the state and federal offices of Homeland Security to evaluate the information in question. Those agencies ruled that some of data - including some the county has already sold - is "protected," which restricts who can view it.

See also: Connecticut Cities Differ On Providing GIS Data