WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Criticism over the city of Bloomington’s use of private information let officials to call for a closed-door meeting today.
The criticism came after Monroe County Commissioner Amanda Barge pointed out on social media that the city is publishing the addresses of overdose victims. Barge expressed outrage over Facebook over the weekend:
“Fellow City of Bloomington and Monroe County residents: I am horrified to see that an official City of Bloomington website, BloomingtonRevealed.com, is posting a list of overdose deaths in our county with a MAP of specific addresses (in some cases private homes) where these overdoses occurred. This includes sharing information about the type of drug and the percentages of people who have criminal charges.”
Barge continued,
“This website can tell you that someone on, say, your street, died of an overdose and the type of drug they used. Why is this an appropriate use of government resources? This cannot stand. We ought to be using the resources spent to build this website into educating certain members of our city government about Substance Use Disorder.”
The city’s data portal BloomingtonRevealed.com, was launched last year, in an attempt by Mayor John Hamilton’s administration to be more open and transparent with city residents.
