County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said today she would like the first batch of newly revised public records, which have been cleared of Social Security numbers, to be restored online within 90 days, after announcing the temporary recall of all public records from the office's online database Monday.
The decision to take the records off the Internet came after extensive discussions among staff, DeBeauvoir said.
"We had to weigh the convenience for some business customers and the economics for runners to actually come down to the county office against individual's right to privacy and the potential for identity theft," she said.
The initial idea of revising the documents came after the office received a growing number of individual complaints for having personal information such as Social Security numbers online. The clerk attended to each of the complaints as they were received, but soon realized that the issues with privacy were not isolated.
The office has been posting public records online for three years. It posts every record received, including deeds, marriage licenses, warranties and probate records.
The broadness of the record subjects was another key factor in DeBeauvoir's decision to recall the documents.
Although DeBeauvoir said there have not been any incidents of identity theft from Travis County records, this has become an issue in other states. She cited a March lawsuit filed against Ohio's secretary of state for posting Social Security numbers for major credit card purchases online and a Florida court order issued to remove all court records from online access until Social Security numbers are removed.
Many of the online records from the county clerk's office included Social Security numbers. DeBeauvoir said that those are being deleted as well as other personal information people may have unintentionally filed.
All records currently containing Social Security numbers should be restored to the online database within a year.
Be the first to comment on this article!