I've recently ran into a problem trying to obtain GIS files through open records requests with a government agency due to privacy requirements that I think can be solved with updates to how to save and share files. I want a file of a grasshopper hazard map published by the USDA displaying the regions of the U.S. where grasshopper populations are high, but the USDA cannot give me the information because I could theoretically use it to zoom in on individual properties. But they would have no problem giving me the data if I were only able to view it from the nationalized scale it already exists in and not at a higher zoom level. If there was a certain type of file that would be fixed on a particular zoom level and prevent me from zooming in past that level if I were to open that file in ESRI, that would solve the problem (essentially a way to lock it in at a fixed zoom level and share that file with another person). But, the way current file types work, I don't believe that is an option. But something to keep in mind for the future, especially since I'm sure this is not an isolated problem and a potential way for the government to more freely share information with citizens, while still protecting individual privacy rights.
