The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act is a law that gives you important rights when we collect, create, keep, use, or release data about you, and controls how we collect, use, and release data about you. 

An important note about who may exercise your rights: The law defines an individual as a living human being and gives every individual all of the rights discussed in this section. 

If you are a minor (which means that you are not yet 18 years old), your parents or your guardian usually have the same rights as you. This means that each of your parents or your guardian usually can look at and have copies of the information we keep about you. Usually, they each have the right to give their consent to release the data about you. They each can challenge the accuracy and completeness of the data about you. If you have no parents, or if your parents are not a part of your life, then the person who is caring for you has these rights. In some cases, your parent or guardian does not have these rights. For example, we won't let your parent(s) or guardian exercise the rights the law gives you if there is a court order that takes these rights away from them. The court order might be about a divorce, separation, custody, or some other matter, or it might take away the parental rights of your parent(s). 

Sometimes a state or federal law says that we can't let your parents see information about you. If you have been appointed as a legal guardian for an individual, you may exercise that individual's rights under the MGDPA. To do so, you must show proof of your appointment as a legal guardian.