Bill to Make Public Employees' Birth Dates Private Passes Oklahoma Senate

The Oklahoma Senate passed a bill that would keep the birth dates of public employees confidential. Proponents say the measure would protect an employee's privacy, but open records advocates point out that birth dates are often the only way to identify an individual correctly from a database. For example, The Oklahoman compared state sex offender registry with the state's January payroll data and found that 778 state employees share first and last names with registered sex offenders. The overlap includes child care workers, law enforcement investigators, and a state Supreme Court justice.

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