Thanks for the insight, JHB.
I, too, agree that there should be policy in place, but fear that most groups don't even think of it until it is challenged.

The quirky world of privacy vs open records is definitely interesting. My common sense approach would be that this information should be confidential and not shared unless you are required to. And the odds of getting more than a run-of-the-mill request that can be declined are pretty low.

A few years ago, we had a mom ask for a copy of our membership list (or to look through the membership records, I forget which) because she wanted to prove the father was not a PTO member and use that in court as one more example of his non-involvement in a custody case. Thankfully, she didn't push it when we declined.

My understanding is that, as a non-profit, we do not have the same open records requirement as government does.

But, if you DO get into a situation where someone really pushes it - and knows some of the relevant laws, no telling what could happen.

I work for a government entity and we co-sponsored an event with a non-profit last year. There was some financial information that an unrelated third party wanted and knew the non-profit owning the info did not have to hand over. Instead, the 3rd party called me to see if I had any of the information. (It related to the co-sponsored activity.) Our legal counsel said if it was on our (a government) computer, we had to hand it over. Luckily, I no longer had the files.

But the point is, does your membership information reside on the school's computer? (All our PTO records are on the school network.) That could make them subject to "Open Records" requests via the school.

I bring this up only as a matter of curiousity. Risk management is all about analyzing potential risks, weighing those risks, and preparing appropriately. This becoming a MAJOR issue is pretty much a long shot.

It's a great discussion point and definitely good to have a general privacy policy. But beyond that, this isn't something we generally need to spend much time and effort on. (I know we must scare off some Forum newcomers. "I have to do that, too???")

The fact is, our members are primarily families. And anyone can get the name and addresses of the entire student list from the school under Open Records (unless someone has a do-not-dislose letter on file). That makes us fairly low risk as a target.

I'm glad you asked this question, because as the president of our group, I'd never given it any thought until you did! We don't have anything in our bylaws, though I did put a little "*note" where they write their personal info when we distributed our info survey. I just said the info was for our records, and wouldn't be shared with any outside sources (my meaning being that I wasn't harboring some sort of master list to sell to soliciters). I guess I would have to say as far as personal info like addresses and phone numbers, only the officers (pres, VP, treasurer and secretary). I suppose if someone wantd to see who was a member, I'd want to know WHY, and I'd have to check with everyone involved. Not that we have anything to hide, but it IS sort of weird thing to want to see if you weren't ivolved with maintaining the membership.

In our organization, the only ones who have access to that information is the Board - specifically, treasurer and Co Presidents. We acknowledge that this is confidential information when we receive it from the Superintendent's Secretary.

In our organization, the only ones who have access to that information is the Board - specifically, treasurer and Co Presidents. We acknowledge that this is confidential information when we receive it from the Superintendent's Secretary.

Who should have access to the PTO membership list information, such as names, phone #s, addresses, e-mails etc.?
What do you have in your bylaws regarding any or all members having a 'right' to this data, and by what process is this information given out?
If someone requests this info, is a written request and/or reason for request needed?
Or does the organization have an obligation for confidentiality of member information?