http://www.fairfaxcountyprivacycouncil.org
The Public Records Problem
(FCPC Comments at Town Meeting with
Senator Puller and Delegate Sickles)
By Mike Stollenwerk
Email:
Chairman@FairfaxCountyPrivacyCouncil.org
FCPC View: Courts and
legislatures around the
Examples of Virginia Public
Records Containing sensitive and confidential personal data that are now going
onto the Internet:
(Note:
all documents typically already include full names and addresses)
a)
Marriage licenses (complete with
full legal names, educational level, DOB, and Mother's Maiden Names.....).
b) Final Divorce Decrees (complete
with DOBs, SSNs, minor children's names, where the parents work and live
and usually with a home and work telephone number and other details of who gets
the kids, who gets the cars, what child support will be, and when visitation is
plus other details)
c) Name Change documents (complete
with DOBs and SSNs, home addresses, mother's maiden names).
d) Deeds of Trust and Credit Line Deeds
of Trust (lots of times - since 1991 - with a SSN, loan numbers, home
address, and signature which can be stolen off a computer screen simply by
hitting "Control/Print/Screen" and then opening up Windows Paint,
retrieving the document, cleaning it up, then clipping and pasting it
anywhere....).
e) Judgments/Tax Liens (complete
with DOB, SSN, name and address. Ever had a traffic ticket - well, there's a
piece of paper that was generated if you paid the fine late OR APPEALED it to
Circuit Court that you don't even know exists.....).
f) Wills, lists of heirs, lists of
inventories of estates (all containing too many details like account
numbers)
g) Financing Statements generally
have SSNs on them....
h)
Concealed Handgun Application Files
(usually just the judge’s order on the Internet, but full law file is a public
record)
Bottom Line - 3 Steps to “Do No More Harm:” 1. The General
Assembly should completely ban the recording or other creation of any new
public records in
3-Step Legislative Relief
Requested:
1. Amend Delegate Baskerville’s HB 179 (Posting certain information on the Internet) to effect a change at Va.
Code § 3808.2.D.1 to require redaction
of SSNs and full dates of birth of any public record distributed over the Internet
(see recommended
language Enclosure 1).
2. Amend Delegate May’s HB543 (Uniquely identifying numbers appearance limited on
public records) to effect a change to Va. Code § 3808.2
such that no portion of an SSN, nor any portion of a date of birth other than
the year of birth, shall be recorded or otherwise entered onto a public record
(see recommended
language at Enclosure 2).
3. Introduce new legislation rendering non-public
all hunting, fishing, boating, jet-ski, and concealed handgun permit application
related records in a manner substantially similar to motor vehicle and driver’s
licensing records.[1]
References: See Attached examples of documents available
under “Pay-Per-View” “on-line” scheme in
·
DOTs containing names, addresses, signatures, signatures,
loan amounts, and (most) SSNs: Richard
and Sharon Bulova, Michael Frey, John and Jeannemarie Devolites, Thomas and
Patsy Rust, Linda Puller, Richard and Eleanor Saslaw, and Colin and Alma
Powell.
·
Concealed Handgun Permit application file for John Devolites
with DOB, POB, home and work phone numbers, criminal and mental health
questionnaire, SSN, height, weight, physical description, copy of both VA
Driver’s License and Concealed Handgun Permit.
Enclosure 1:
HOUSE BILL NO. 179
Offered
Prefiled
A BILL to amend and reenact § 2.2-3808.2 of the Code of Virginia and to repeal the second enactment of Chapter 988 of the Acts of Assembly of 2003, relating to posting social security numbers on the Internet.
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Patron-- Baskerville
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Referred to Committee on General Laws
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 2.2-3808.2 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 2.2-3808.2. Posting certain information on the Internet; prohibitions.
A. Beginning January 1, 2004, no court clerk shall post on a court-controlled website and beginning January 1, 2005, no agency shall post on an agency-controlled website any document that contains the following information: (i) an actual signature; (ii) a social security number; (iii) a date of birth identified with a particular person; (iv) the maiden name of a person's parent so as to be identified with a particular person; (v) any financial account number or numbers; or (vi) the name and age of any minor child.
B. Each such clerk or agency shall post notice that includes a list of the documents routinely posted on its website.
C. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit access to any original document as provided by law.
D. Provided that all Social Security Number(s), if any, and all dates of birth, if any, have been redacted, this section shall not apply to the following:
1. Providing remote access to any court-controlled document by means of a network or system that is certified by the Department of Technology Planning to be secure and to provide for restricted access pursuant to security standards developed in consultation with the circuit court clerks, the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court, the Compensation Board, interested citizens, and users of land and other court records. Such standards shall include, but not be limited to, a requirement, as a precondition for access, for registration by users in person or by means of a notarized or otherwise sworn application that establishes the prospective user's identity, business or residence address, and citizenship status;
2. Postings related to legitimate law-enforcement purposes;
3. Postings of historical, genealogical, interpretive, or educational documents and information about historic persons and events; and
4. Postings of instruments and records filed or recorded prior to 1902.
2. That the second enactment of Chapter 988 of the Acts of Assembly of 2003 is repealed.
Enclosure 2
HOUSE BILL NO. 543
Offered
Prefiled
A BILL to amend the Code of
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Patron-- May
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Referred to Committee on Science and Technology
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 2.2-3808.3 as follows:
§ 2.2-3808.3. Uniquely identifying numbers appearance limited on public records.
A. For purposes of this section, "uniquely identifying number"
means any alphabetic or numeric sequence, or combination thereof, that is
unique and assigned to a specific natural person at that person's request.
"Uniquely identifying number" includes, but is not limited to, social
security number, date of birth,
bank account number, credit card number, military service number and driver's
license number. However, "uniquely identifying number" shall not
include any arbitrarily assigned alphabetic or numeric sequence, or combination
thereof, that is assigned to a natural person for purposes of identification,
in lieu of a social security number, and used for a single, specific government
purpose. The year of any birth shall be considered the last four digits of a
date of birth.
B. Notwithstanding § 2.2-3802,
no public record, as that term is defined in § 2.2-3701,
that is created or filed after
1. Such use is required by state or federal law; or
2. The record upon which the uniquely identifying number appears is
exempt from disclosure under the
C. Beginning July 1, 2004, no document that will become a public record, as that term is defined in § 2.2-3701, shall be accepted for filing by a public body unless the person who prepared the document or presented the document for filing certifies at the beginning or end of the document to be filed that such document complies with subsection B.
D. This section does not prohibit the collection, use or release of a uniquely identifying number as required by the laws of the Commonwealth or the United States or for internal verification or administrative purposes as allowed by the laws of the Commonwealth or the United States.
[1] Currently, not only will the Department of Inland Game and Fisheries (“DGIF”) publish all records, including SSNs pursuant to a FOIA request, but DGIF is actively engaged in a money making scheme to sell sportsman and boater personal data to commercial entities. These practices are invasive, dangerous, and should be halted.
[2] Obtained recently by FCPC member at Fairfax Courthouse by simply demanding access to the records using Fairfax Clerk’s Computers; CHP law file was hand searched.