Trilight Zone

[digital8]

While most court records, involving such matters as medical histories, divorces, and arrests, are available for public inspection at the court house, posting them on the Internet has proven a contentious issue. Internet search tools enable people to search through large quantities of records. A bank in Minnesota used online documents to deny loans to a number of minority applicants. Florida declared a temporary ban on posting court records online after the death of NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) driver Dale Earnhardt, when newspapers sought autopsy photos. A number of states have set up commissions to examine what sorts of records should be posted online. According to Beth Givens of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, online court records have made it easier for identity thieves to gather sensitive personal information. While courts generally remove Social Security numbers and such sensitive data from records before opening them to the public, mistakes sometime let the data slip through. A Minnesota commission has recommended prohibiting record searches by defendants' names, so anyone interested in a case could access pertinent information, but would not be able to target individuals. Florida is favoring limiting internet access to public records, a decision Jon Kaney of the First Amendment Foundation says goes against the spirit of open government.

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,65703,00.html