Are online records too public?

[William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0529/web-swire-06-01-00.asp

BY William Matthews
06/01/2000

The noble goal of free-flowing information in the Internet Age has
collided with the harsh reality of hackers, criminals and aggressive
marketers, President Clintons privacy counselor, Peter Swire, said
this week.

Records that could be safely made available to the public in the form
of paper documents stored in courthouse file cabinets may not be
suitable for posting in electronic form on the Internet, Swire told an
audience of law enforcement and information technology specialists at
the National Conference on Privacy, Technology and Criminal Justice
Information. Bankruptcy records, which are substantially controlled by
the federal government, are of particular concern to the Clinton
administration. At present, theyre public records and can be examined
by anyone who goes to a courthouse and requests to see them. They
contain a wealth of personal information, including financial worth,
bank account and brokerage account numbers, Social Security numbers,
and other financial data.

Like many other kinds of documents, "bankruptcy records are in the
process of moving from paper files to the Internet," Swire said. "As
that is happening, we are starting to ask some questions: Should we
place this information online for millions of Americans? If youre
putting the actual bank account numbers online, doesnt that create an
opportunity for identity theft, fraud" and crime targeted against
individuals and banks?

The Office of Management and Budget, where Swire works, and the
Justice and Treasury departments are preparing a report on the issue
for Clinton. Swire said the administration "is seriously studying"
whether to change bankruptcy regulations to limit the availability of
some records that are now freely available to the public.

The concept of free-flowing information on the Internet was "a
wonderful goal," but it has become increasingly clear that not all
information should be as widely available as the Internet makes it,
Swire said.

Hackers and criminals thrive on information that they would be
unlikely to obtain if it was available only in paper form, he said.
For example, criminals would be far less likely to go to a courthouse
and ask to examine bankruptcy documents or trial records than they are
to comb the Internet for the same information, Swire said.

"There are certain categories of information that are sensitive and
deserve legal protection" even though they are considered public
records today, he said. Names and addresses of rape victims and
individuals under protective orders are available in public court
records, but should not be published on the Internet, he said.


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