(MSPAlliance) – April 13, 2006 – With public records becoming increasingly available online on county and local government Web sites, the failure to redact sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, driver’s license information and bank account information, has left even Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his wife vulnerable to identity theft.
Many county and local government Web sites across the < ?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” />United States, including all five of New York City’s boroughs, make images of documents such as property and tax records, motor vehicle information and court files available to anyone with Internet access and a basic idea of how to find such information.
Bush and his wife’s Social Security numbers were available on a quit deed claim from 1999, but have since been redacted and are no longer online.
Though this information has traditionally been available at courthouses for centuries, taking such information offline would be a step back for easier information-sharing processes that have made commercial use of this information more efficient.
Experts advise people to check their records on their own, while emphasizing the need for counties and local governments to ensure the highest level of privacy possible in regard to public documents.