Tuesday, June 07, 2005

~ florida courts and legislators pursue restriction of personal data ~

Privacy advocates are screaming for legislation to control the dissemination of personal information. What's the downside to imposing limitations on access? ChoicePoint addressed the Florida state Committee on Privacy and Court Records:

"We are concerned that the thrust of the... recommendations (go) too far," Lucan wrote. "Quite often, 'confidential' or 'personal' information is the very public data needed to identify the right person: name, current address, date of birth, gender, and eye color."

Omitting such data makes consumers prey to being tagged "with a crime they did not commit, or a foreclosure proceeding, lien or divorce that applies to someone else," Lucan wrote.

The draft report and comments are available here. The newspaper article roundup,
ChoicePoint: Omitting personal info from public records could hurt consumers, is here.

Like an alert on a credit report, Rapsheets.com is now notifying the subject of the search, when their information is requested. This could be the most mail that inmates have received. The company now requires a name and DOB to do a search.

UPDATE: July 5: The Chief Justice has granted an extension of time through July 8 for the filing of the final Report.