“The Illinois Department of Transportation’s attempt to keep information about its red light camera program secret by locking an Excel spreadsheet has backfired. The state’s second-highest court last week ruled the move violated the state’s freedom of information laws and ordered the agency pay an anti-camera activist $12,561 in compensation. IDOT claimed it locked the file ‘to protect the integrity of the material and not to withhold information in any way,’ but Fagel insisted the agency was obligated to provide the information in the format in which the agency normally keeps the records and that there is no statutory provision authorizing IDOT’s action.”
