Overturning past trial and appellate court decisions, the Texas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that state employees' birthdates are private information, saying the employees' privacy interest "outweighs the negligible public interest in disclosure here." The Houston Chronicle reports that the state comptroller took the attorney general and The Dallas Morning News to court in order to protect the privacy of about 144,000 state employees. The News says that birthdates are vital in order to positively identify people and freedom of information advocates are calling the ruling a "big blow to the public's right to know what's going on." 
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