A Little Legislative Sunblock?

Open government advocates and media types reflexively cringe at the suggestion that there is such a thing as too much access to public records, but the Legislature should get credit for recognizing in recent years that there must be an appropriate balance struck between open government on the one hand and other legitimate concerns on the other. Here's the most recent example.

As part of the amendments to the Electronic Mail Communications Act, Chapter 668 of the Florida Statutes, the Legislature in 2006 enacted the following requirement in Fla. Stat. sec. 668.6076:

Any agency, as defined in s. 119.011, or legislative entity that operates a website and uses electronic mail shall post the following statement in a conspicuous location on its website:
Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic
mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.

Now, getting lots of unwanted email is certainly inconvenient, wastes time and resources and carries at least some potential for damage to personal property through viruses and other sinister technological weapons, but most folks wouldn't put preventing "spam" in the same category as, say, protecting against unauthorized use of Social Security Numbers or the unwanted distribution or publication of a loved one's autopsy photographs (both of which the Legislature has addressed in recent measures).

So, if open government is such a good thing . . . why do we have to warn people about it?