The courts are here to protect us, maybe not!

Computerworld is reporting the Superior Court of California (County of Riverside) is being accused by privacy advocates. They claim court data containing Social Security numbers, medical histories, tax records, bank account numbers and other sensitive information is being made public via the states website.

This site gives anyone with a court case number and internet access the ability to view court transcripts. Computeworld stated the IT director said. “All documentation posted on the website is in accordance with California State Law”. He was also quoted as saying “It is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

I would have to say this is disconcerting. We as citizens put faith in our state court systems. Americans are having their identities stolen at an alarming rate. I find it hard to believe that the State of California cannot hire a few individuals to properly edit all documentation put on their website.

In my opinion I do not think it is necessary to have court information posted to the internet. If the State of California finds it necessary to have this information available online. I would have to disagree with this decision based on privacy concerns. I think making all of this information available on their private network is however a valid reason to digitize records. It does make the information easier to search. It does save time.

Let the public go to the court and request information the old fashion way. (Track who is requesting our private information.) Right now its all up in the Air! I hold no faith in this process.

This is making me feel the need to sign up for a service such as LifeLock to help protect my identity.