New Jersey dog license records released to commercial venture

The New Jersey Government Records Council (GRC) is the arbiter of the state Public Records Act and is the only appeal body that considers denied requests for public information, other than the court system. I previously wrote about the GRC opinion that government sponsored data maintained on personal computers is a public record. The GRC recently ruled that a commercial request for dog license data which included personal information should be released.

At its April 14, 2005 public meeting, the Government Records Council ("Council") considered the April 7, 2005 Findings and Recommendations of the Executive Director and all related documentation submitted by the parties. After balancing the public's interest in disclosure against the privacy interests raised in said findings and recommendations, a three-member majority of the four-member Council voted to reject the recommendation of the Executive Director and hold, instead, that in the specific circumstances of this case, the dog license owners names and addresses are to be disclosed.

NewJersey.com explores this case and tactivitiestes of the GRC.

~ when free wifi isn't available ~

When you're traveling and need to get Wifi Internet access in multiple locations try Tempest Telecom. Pay a daily or monthly fee and connect through the local service, whether you're in your hotel or at a cafe. This way you circumvent the separate fees each will charge you to connect to the same service. [Recommended by Tom Johnson, Institute for Analytic Journalism, particularly for international travel.]

~ PI blogs and podcasts ~

Podcasts are audio files that you can listen to on your computer or download to a portable audio device. Podcasts can be posted on a blog or website and only require a microphone to produce, which is part of the good and the bad of podcasts. On the good side is a new blog with podcasts from fellow private investigator and PI News Link reader, Scott Stys. The Curbside Investigator is a good example of podcasts as a savvy marketing tool that is also informative and entertaining. And if he adds me to his blogroll I might add him to mine!

~ california circuit court keeps divorce files open ~

The Second Circuit, Court of Appeal for California (Los Angeles) has published an opinion upholding last year's ruling by the Superior Court that divorce proceedings cannot be closed to the public. I previously wrote about the case in which Ronald Burkle sought to have portions of his divorce file sealed. The Circuit Court summary mirrored the conclusions of the lower court: the court should not be mandated to suspend discretion over the sealing of specific documents

Family Code section 2024.61 requires a court, upon the request of a party to a divorce proceeding, to seal any pleading that lists and provides the location or identifying information about the financial assets and liabilities of the parties. We conclude that section 2024.6 is unconstitutional on its face. The First Amendment provides a right of access to court records in divorce proceedings. While the privacy interests protected by section 2024.6 may override the First Amendment right of access in an appropriate case, the statute is not narrowly tailored to serve overriding privacy interests. Because less restrictive means exist to achieve the statutory objective, section 2024.6 operates as an undue burden on the First Amendment right of public access to court records.

~ advertising of personal information sales is ubiquitous - look for legislation targeting other types of data sales ~

Some of the news sites that are writing about the solicitation of personal information and telephone call records from the telecommunications company are getting advertising revenue from businesses that sell these records on the Internet. These rotating ads are provided by Google Adsense and the placement sites have little control over which specific products or services appear. The recent article in Wired, Devious Tactic Snags Phone Data, lists an advertisement for DetectivesUSA. But the each time you visit the Wired site a different set of promotional links may appear, changing with the click of the mouse. The DetectivesUSA site offers landline and cell records to the general public.

The Missing Amendment has a list of the news articles on privacy and personal information.

The debate over the sale of personal information will continue in the courts and within regulatory agencies, targeting other forms of data sales, such as residential addresses associated with postal and private mailboxes.

~ maricopa county arrest warrants online ~

The Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff's Department has unveiled an online database of outstanding arrest warrants that is searchable by partial name. The search results return address, date of birth and original offense.




Technorati Tags: arizona, maricopa+county, arrest+warrants

~ cell phone call log peddlers begin to back pedal ~

Bestpeoplesearch operated by Intelligent eCommerce has attempted to distance itself from other cell phone telephone log resellers by posting a guide, How To Protect Your Cell Phone Records. This site is one that EPIC mentioned in its complaint to the FCC, which I wrote about in my squib on regulation. Two of the suggestions are for the account subscriber to request that the vendor remove call logs from their bill and that any telephone inquiry for information be denied, in favor of the account holder appearing in person at a company store and showing their id.


Technorati Tags: cell+phones, regulation

~ government agencies, politicians and privacy groups press for regulation of Internet sales of phone logs ~

News organizations, consumer watchdog groups and political bloggers have been quick to demonstrate the ease with which consumer telephone logs can be purchased from online unregulated vendors. EPIC, which details 40 websites that offer these for sale, has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to establish more stringent security standards for phone companies, which collect sensitive information, including logs of calls that subscribers make on their phones. This week, Senator Harry Reid sent a letter to the FCC requesting they investigate this violation of privacy as a danger to national security.

The advent of the Internet, a minimally regulated environment, gives merchants access to a new, enormous audience. Increased visibility has also brought more scrutiny to investigative methods, which in the past were little known outside of a small world.

Recently the Chicago Police Department and the FBI have reported concern that they may be under threat or their investigations compromised by nefarious types gaining access to their agents' cell phone logs. Erine Rizzo, the Illinois PI who unabashedly proclaims his frequent purchase of phone records, is hitching a ride on this super nova story. Why is it that the private investigators who freely spout about the grey market data they can secure aren't members of their state PI organizations?

Information gathering approaches that could be ethically applied to execute court issued judgments, court mandated due diligence or the tracking of missing people are curtailed through current state and federal laws limiting access to motor vehicle, voter registration and financial records.


Topic continues to next post...
Technorati Tags: telephone+records, regulation

~ massachusetts court rules harvard u police reports are not public records ~

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that the police reports of the Harvard University Police Department are not public records.

The Court also rejected The Crimson's claims that private entities, once endowed with certain state powers, become public entities. Instead, the Court held that even when granted special powers, HUPD does not become "an agency of the commonwealth such that it becomes subject to the mandates of the public records law."

This determination runs counter to an Indiana Court of Appeals decision that the retention of records by a private entity related to government agency business are public records.

Surely the authorization accorded to any police agency to arrest falls within the public purview.


Technorati Tags: massachusetts, police+records

~ surveillance gear chatter at new yahoo group ~

A public group has been added to the endless collection of Yahoo Groups, discussing surveillance equipment, what to use and what to lose. The site is aptly named PI Gear, but the url reads, to some eyes, pig-ear. Whatever! The site description sums it up.

PI Gear is the place where users of electronic surveillance equipment can discuss and review various products used by private investigators and law enforcement throughout the world. Members are encouraged to openly discuss in a professional manner their experiences with products, what works, what doesn't work, and practical techniques can be offered to maximize the benefit of any surveillance tool or product.

Check out this new group established by Jimmie Mesis at PI Gear.

~ Congress proposes bill to criminalize unauthorized access to telephone account information ~

The Consumer Telephone Records Protection Act of 2006 was introduced by Senator Charles Schumer as pressure bears down on Congress to reign in Internet data brokers selling telephone call logs. Schumer leads his press release with rally-the-troops language.

SCHUMER UNVEILS BIPARTISAN BILL TO STOP SALE OF CELL PHONE CALL LOGS TO PROTECT PRIVACY OF MILLIONS OF CELL PHONE USERS

Thieves Steal and Sell Entire List of Every Call Cell Phone Owner has Made, Private, Business and Personal Relationships Made Public for a Small Fee

Who your Physician is, Whether you see a Psychologist, Companies you do Business with, Private/Personal Relationships Can all be made Public

Chairman Arlen Specter and Sen. Bill Nelson Join Schumer to Introduce Legislation to Criminalize Practice

Pretexts to telephone companies or their customers to obtain account information would be illegal. The language of the bill doesn't seem to be available but a press report by RCR News provides some background. Needless to say, there's no mention of exceptions for collection of judgments, child abduction, missing persons cases or other matters related to court actions or security.


Technorati Tags: cell+phone, pretext, data+brokers

~ indiana legislature considers closure of vital records ~

The Indiana Legislature is reviewing a proposed bill that would make vital records - birth and death certificates - confidential and open to review only by certain classes of the public. Exceptions would be made for family members, genealogists and journalists - although it's a questionable policy to give access to a specific segment of the general public, excluding others. The putative motive is to thwart terrorism and identity theft but no study or instance of the use of Indiana death records has linked death records to these activities, according to the report in the IndyStar.


Technorati Tags: indiana, vital+records

~ cingular customer information obtained through unauthorized access is returned to cingular ~

The U.S. Federal District Court (11th Circuit) issued a Restraining Order in Cingular Wireless LLC vs. Data Find Solutions, INC ., James Kester, 1ST Source Information Specialists INC., Kenneth W. German, Steven Schwartz, filed December 2005 (email me for a copy). Cingular's complaint suggests that accusations from customers about Cingular's business practices prompted the legal action, not concerns for customer's privacy.

Cingular's customers whose information has been obtained
wrongfully by Defendants have mistakenly accused Cingular of selling their private information to third parties, thereby harming the Company's relationship with its customers...

In the Complaint (email me for a copy), Cingular demands repossession of the goods obtained by the defendants.

Cingular is entitled to replevin of all of its customer information in the possession of the Defendants, regardless of form or manner of storage, including without limitation Cingular's customer information existing on Defendants' computers and hard drives .

Among the actions listed in the Temporary Restraining Order that the defendants are enjoined from is "disposing of any confidential Cingular customer information, other than by returning it to Cingular."

One of the methods Cingular posits 1st Source Information may have used to obtain customer account information is social engineering.

The legal underpinning for the action Cingular cited is the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 18 U.S .C. § 1030 and the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act as the basis for its claims.

Websites identified as associated with the defendants are www (dot)locatecell (dot)com, www(dot)celltolls(dot)com, www(dot)datafind(dot)org and peoplesearchamerica(dot)com.

More on this topic: Devious Tactic Snags Phone Data

Technorati Tags: cingular, cell+phones privacy, social+engineering

~ san francisco conference on criminal defense investigations ~

Anytime of the year is a good time to be in San Francisco. April is really lovely. An added bonus, if you're a criminal defense investigator, lawyer, mental health expert, jury consultant, journalist or anyone else concerned with the rights of the criminally accused, is The Return of the Maltese Falcon: Training for Sam Spade in the 21st Century, the National Defense Investigators Association conference, April 26-28, 2006.

For the price of one elegant dinner on the town you can attend this two day intensive of presentations by those who have honed their craft. Hear notables David Fechheimer speaking on International Investigation: How Do We Investigate in the Global Village and the former Director of the San Francisco Office of Citizen Complaints addressing Dirty Cop Investigations: Examining Police (Mis)Conduct. Other topical sessions explore wiretapping, gang and child pornography investigations.

~ south carolina judge prevents journalist from viewing a divorce record ~

One of my pet peeves about newspaper websites is their myopic identity. If there are any newspaper publishers out there, listen up. I landed on the Aiken Standard page looking for the story of a judge who closed a public records divorce file. Excuse me, but I don't know where the town, county or psychic space of Aiken is located. Apparently you have to know where you are to know where you are. The weather section provided the answer: South Carolina.

In an unusual move, a county clerk refused a journalist's request to view the divorce record of a man who had recently killed himself and his children because it was "inappropriate to release that information at this time." The judge backed her up, reasoning that the closure avoids "the premature release of information to be used in prospective law enforcement action." What law enforcement? The guy killed himself.


Technorati Tags: south+carolina, public+records

~ colorado judge closes court records ~

The chief judge of Jefferson County, Colorado has closed divorce and probate files to the public because he doesn't have the staff to institute the Supreme Court directive to remove personal information from the case files.

Other states are redacting personal information in their online property and court databases and the federal courts are requesting that filers remove date of birth and social security number identifiers from electronically filed documents. This is the first instance that I recall (just off the top of my head) where courts are reviewing old case files and altering them for public view.

The framework for this policy was constructed by the Public Access Committee of the Colorado Judicial Department in their document, Public Access to Court Records, issued in 2005.



Technorati Tags: colorado, divorce+records, probate+records

~ illinois proposes to criminalize the sale of phone record information ~

The Illinois governor is proposing that the state enact a far-reaching law which would "crackdown on the unauthorized release or sale of phone records and other private information by brokers and phone companies. " Under the current legislation the release of any personal identifying information or the account holders' records would be subject to civil and criminal penalties.

Technorati Tags: illinois, phone+records

~ consumer sites - travel - electronics ~

Sometimes you know which airline is best for that trip from here to there. But on those other occasions you may want to compare times, cost and routes of travel at the friendly Dohop.


Dontbuyjunk admonishes you avoid the lower quality electronics for ones that can meet your needs and budget. The site offers a comparison feature and links you to reviews of specific products at the widely read sites you would go to anyway but would waste a lot of time finding.

~ ventura county increases fees for public records ~

Ventura County, California joins the increasing collection of public agencies that are using an untested loophole in the California Public Records Act to charge the document requester for staff time.

Although the California Public Records Act clearly states that public records should be made "promptly available to any person upon payment of fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if applicable," Ventura County has latched onto the "statutory fee" angle as a way to expand what they can charge for public documents.

The author goes on to give an example of how these costs (staff time charged at $65.64/hour) compromises the spirit and the letter of the law that is intended to increase citizen access to their government.

UPDATE: The arbitrariness of the imposed fee is still in effect even though the county now claims that the fee charged recently to the Ventura County Star was a mistake.

Technorati Tags: california, public+records, ventura+county

~ illinois representative proposes domestic violence database ~

PI News Link previously reported on the Tennessee online database of convicted meth sellers and forecast a trend toward more criminal information and tools for manipulating that data appearing on the Internet. The pace is increasing. Illinois is considering a proposal to make the identities of those convicted of domestic violence available on the Internet. Most of us are now familiar with the government-operated national sex offender database, which combined with the Google open source mapping utility has spawned the site mapsexoffenders.com. I amuse myself with thoughts of future maps on which we can simultaneously plot the residential addresses of corporate criminals and politicians. How far apart are they?

At the same time that all this Internet snooping has expanded Illinois has made it possible for some convicted of crimes to have their records sealed. It's a mixed up crazy world...


Technorati Tags: illinois, domestic+violence

~ low cost social security death index ~

If you're a frequent visitor to the free online death index sites you might appreciate having a CD of the Social Security Death Index, especially if it only costs $6! This software company is offering the SSDI [dates of death are only through 1999] and a place name finder, each for the shipping cost, through February.



Technorati Tags: social+security, vital+records

~ recorder index for christian county missouri now online ~

The Recorder of Deeds for Christian County, Missouri now has an online index of land records, marriage, tax liens and UCC filings, from 1994 through August 2005. [Username/password are both "public"]



Technorati Tags: missouri, christian+county, recorder

~ the future course of state courts and public access ~

The National Center for State Courts has released Future Trends in State Courts 2005, a 147 page document that anyone who interacts with a state court will want to read. Forecasts are floated on the volatile issue of access to public records, technology applications in the courtroom and the impact of economic, social and political developments on the judicial system.

In the section on public and data regulation the report observes:

The balance of privacy and public-access interests is one of the most significant information management issues facing today’s society. Protecting an individual’s right to privacy in the information age is a growing concern for entities such as financial institutions, health-insurance providers, government agencies, and private industry. The frequency of announcements of massive numbers of electronic bank records or credit-card records being stolen creates general unease among financially responsible citizens.

The prediction is for a continuing tension between the individual right to privacy and the mandate of government transparency.

The battle between institutional efforts to protect the personal information of their clientele and the ingenuity of those who seek the sensitive data for dishonest endeavors will continue to escalate.

For institutions like courts that are mandated to keep their records public, the challenge will be one of respecting their obligation to allow public access to their records while concealing potentially harmful data that could fall into unscrupulous hands.

Although keeping public records accessible will probably triumph over arguments to the contrary (especially as electronic tools make some records even more accessible), public agencies will continue to reexamine the more fundamental question of what information belongs in a public record.

Courts have taken various positions on what personal information is confidential. Some of the actions courts have taken or may implement are removing "...Social Security numbers, names of minor children, financial account numbers, and dates of birth...". Courts are "...blanking out the first five digits of a Social Security number, referring to minor children by initials only, deleting all financial account numbers, and revealing only the year of birth. Courts are also becoming more sensitive to and sophisticated in protecting records against damage and tampering."


Technorati Tags: state+courts, public+records
Blogs that cite this post: Legal Dockets

~ restricting access to minnesota driver licenses is on the horizon for 2006 ~

The cover of identity theft and the proliferation of rogue Internet vendors cavalierly selling personal information, including motor vehicle and driver license records, has prompted the Minnesota Attorney General to request that the Department of Public Safety cease its sale of driver's license data to commercial companies.

Technorati Tags: minnesota, driver+license

~ some juvenile offenses considered open records in Missouri ~

Criminal trials must be open to the public "where the child is accused of conduct which, if committed by an adult, would be considered a Class A or B felony", according to a recent ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court.


Technorati Tags: missouri, juvenile+records

~ 50 state workers' compensation related links ~

One of my faithful tipsters, who sends me her Internet finds (probably even more frequently than she reads mine) recommends this state by state listing of Workers' Compensation government sites. The directory includes links to each states various regulatory and enforcement agencies for labor and employment and workers' compensation.


Technorati Tags: workers'+compensation

~ arizona judicial disciplinary files are a public record ~

The Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct will now add dismissed complaints and minor sanctions against judges to their online site after March 2006. Serious sanctions were considered a public record prior to the new guidelines issued by the Arizona Supreme Court.


Technorati Tags: arizona, arizona+judiciary