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Friday, February 04, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Help, Google Knows About My Speeding Ticket "

Fascinating item this morning in the WSJ, in the Career Q&A column by Elizabeth Garone. It begins:

Q: In early 2009 I pleaded guilty in traffic court for a speeding violation and paid the ticket and the fee. When I recently Googled my name, to my surprise, a link to the case came up on the first page of results. When I clicked on it, I could see all my vital personal information, including my driver's license number, date of birth, address, car description, time, and place of the violation. I am concerned that my personal information is at risk for identity theft. Also, I am job searching and worry that a potential employer might look at my court case negatively. Is it a mistake that the court made my personal information accessible to anyone online? I am not sure how I should properly handle it.
—Indiana

A: In some states, what the court did would be illegal. In others, it's perfectly legal, which could make it much harder to get it removed, according to Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego, Calif. Unfortunately, your state, Indiana, allows information like this to be made public. "It's a tightrope, and each of the courts is walking it," says Mr. Foley. * * *

We checked with Christa Coffey, the clerk in Tippecanoe County where your violation occurred, and she said that there is not a formal process for asking to have such information removed. What you can do is write a letter to the judge who presided in the case, explaining why you would like the information to be removed, suggests Ms. Coffey. But you might not want to get your hopes up. "The policy of most judges has been that since it is public information, it stays," says Ms. Coffey.

ILB: Tippecanoe County's court records are indeed online, available for public access. Tippecanoe is not part of the JTAC system, but has posted its records online independently, with the authorization of the Supreme Court.

Here is the search form for a general inquiry. Because the letter writer's name is not revealed in the WSJ article, I could not do a search for her specific record. I entered names at random and looked at "IF" records, which are infractions. I did not see any social security information included in these public court records.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on February 4, 2011 08:25 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts