Late-Night Eye Opener

It's late, the workday is over, and I've spent the past few hours scouring online county websites across the nation for the folks who requested we search their records. The night is mild so there's a fan in the window, and isn't that sound just like a lullaby? I never hear it without getting drowsy.

But it's become a habit to search the internet for just a few minutes each night before heading off to bed, seeking new law, or abuse of citizen records, or anything I can pass on to www.FindMyID.com for the newsletter.

A long day and the drone of a window fan was no match for what I saw tonight.

The North Carolina Bar Association publishes a paper called Law Practice Management and nestled among such helpful titles such as "Building Client Loyalty" and "Ethics" was the eye-opener:

"Beware Of The New Identity theft Protection Law!"

This lengthy dissection of NC's Identity Theft Protection Act of 2005 should be required reading for every North Carolina citizen. Since it's late and you just want the gist of it anyway, I'll scroll down and share their position entitled "Management of Public Records".

According to the article (and North Carolina law), two notable exceptions to the 2005 Identity Theft Protection Act which actually require release of identifying information are:


6. Any recorded document in the official records of a county register of deeds.

and

7. Any document filed in the official records of the courts.



Huh. I'm not feeling safer yet. How about you?

Send your name, county, and state to FindMyID@mindspring.com and I'll be happy to check your county - anywhere in the nation - and let you know if your information is available online.

Tell your family, friends, and neighbors about us. This is a free service performed only because, frankly, what your county is doing to you is wrong.

Very important -- If your county does not publish documents online, it's equally important that they hear a hearty and frequent Thank You!

If the only people they ever hear from are data brokers, they'll respond to the bully demands of data brokers. And as we've just seen from the law article above, the data brokers have plenty of help on their side.

The World Is Watching

It looks like all the world is watching - and for all sorts of reasons.

Thank you BJ, The Virginia WatchDog. Her newsletter informed thousands and then drove them to www.FindMyID.com and then this, our accompanying blog.

Letters began pouring in this morning from nearly every state and all of them asking how to check their county for online records. If you haven't read BJ's startling newsletter, visit here:

http://www.opcva.com/watchdog/

According to my computer, other countries are also frequent visitors to the blog and I can only imagine why. I'm not talking about the lovely hills and valleys of the United Kingdom or Spain or Canada or others who have the same concerns about their privacy and respect for ours. I'm referring to the few offending countries who have created a lucrative national market and are earning billions of dollars from selling our signatures and more.

They're likely watching to see if their free info pipeline is about to close. The answer is yes. You've strip-searched Americans of their privacy and dignity long enough. And to Canada, UK, Spain, and others, beware - once they've finished with us, abuse of your privacy can't be far behind.

Let's not forget the data brokers and their dirty little role in this. Without them, there would be no questionable data business. These are the same fat corporate executives who sat in front of US Congress and flatly refused to answer whether they used illegal tactics to gather private information. Care to hand your social security number over to that type of ethic?

Several government computers have visited. It's difficult to tell their exact location, but I sincerely hope it's the same officials we've contacted who are trying to gauge public participation. Perhaps they'll take note of the influx of interest and finally take action.

But since they're watching, this is probably a good point to tell them that political action is now secondary. Record numbers of Americans are learning for the first time that their sensitive information has been posted for the world to see and for data brokers to abuse. They are not taking it well.

Petitions are being written, passed around, delivered, posted online. Tax offices and land registries are being called and visited. So are politicians, and they all have some tough questions to answer. I certainly wouldn't want to be in their shoes, because there's no good or reasonable answer for what they've allowed to happen to their own citizens.

If you haven't visited yet, check out www.FindMyID.com

We'll check public records for you, free of charge. You'll also find a link there to inform your neighbors, friends, family, and others. Another link will take you to a law firm who's interested in representing your invasion of privacy. And if you're so inclined, there's a request form for a community awareness program you can present or even request someone to do it for you.

Spread the word.

Good News and Bad News

Good News: Spoke with the reporter who's investigating county registries and asked when his article might appear since it wasn't in the paper this past weekend. Turns out there's more than first thought that needs a closer look and also a few developments since we first spoke with him. Well that sounds worth waiting for.

Bad News: An abstractor calls me every so often from his home office and asks if I'll check judgments for him while I'm out. Translated, this means he's searching title online and has become what I call a Barcostractor; someone too lazy to get out of his Barcolounger and search title properly.

When time is tight, I ask friends who are headed to areas where I need work if they'll check judgments for me and they've never refused, God bless 'em. Same here, I'm happy to do the same for them because we all know each other, respect each other's work, and know how an unexpected glitch in title can throw you anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days behind with no warning whatsoever.

My new policy is to check judgments for these folks only and not the ones who call from the comfort of their homes asking if I'll check for something in my work area while they sit a hundred miles away and solicit those orders. My orders. Orders that would be mine if they didn't undercut fees, speed search online from home, and if I didn't help them by getting their work out faster.

Think about it; these folks are no different than the title plants we all complain about. They work outside their service area by searching online and getting schmucks like me to improve their turn times if I will just do them a "quick favor if you're near a judgment computer?"

An attorney in Kannapolis, NC, once commented that he wouldn't even use a paralegal to do the preliminary search for him. Nothing against paralegals, but in his words, "I don't have a product. All I have to offer is my reputation. If a mistake takes that away, I'm out of business."

We should all be so careful with our professional reputations.

Search properly. And search inside the courthouse. It's where all records - and conscientious abstractors - belong.

Fast Facts

*Amy Boyer and Rebecca Schaeffer, two unrelated and totally innocent young women, were brutally murdered as a direct result of their private information being published online.

*The vast majority of county clerks and recorders are not required to publish their residents' records over the internet. It is done only as a matter of convenience.

*Using a blank deed and stolen copy/pasted notary seal, actual home theft is a rapidly growing crime, costing homeowners thousands of dollars to recover their own property.

*Phoenix leads the nation in identity theft victims. Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix, Arizona) was the first to publish records over the internet.

*Foreign terrorists use 'public' records published online to create more than 80% of the training manuals used to target Americans.

*After a federal judge's family was murdered in her Chicago home, over 100 judges petitioned the county to take their information offline.

*Tarrant County (Ft Worth, TX) began publishing records online in 2003. Two years later, Dallas - Ft Worth ranked 4th in the nation for identity theft.

*In 2005, Americans began filing class action lawsuits against government agencies who published their records online. So far this year, multiple suits have begun with hundreds more in preliminary stages.

For more information on any of the above stories, go to www.FindMyID.com

Charlotte Police Chief Darrel Stephens - An Apology and a Promise.

As if police work isn't treacherous enough, now our law enforcement officers have to watch their backs for another danger - Mecklenburg County Commissioners.

Mecklenburg County officials estimate the real estate and mapping websites, which expose officer's names and addresses, each received about 63,000 hits - this month.

County officials have the audacity to defend the websites by noting that no other NC city or county government exempts law enforcement officers.

That's the same logic used by four year-olds whose defense for playing in the toilet is "But you never told me not to play in the toilet."

To any rational human being, public access to law enforcement officers' personal data is a clear danger. If that wasn't clear before, then it certainly is now; Chief Stephens stated the home of one of his men was broken into and the suspect gained his address from the register of deeds. This wasn't an isolated incident, by the way.

It's disgraceful that Mecklenburg County jeopardizes the safety of the rest of us. But when Commissioner Chairman Parks Helms casually states the county will have to "carefully consider any exemptions" for law enforcement, he has crossed the line.

Chief Stephens, I apologize for the lack of respect by Mecklenburg County officials.

Chairman Helms, you drew the line in the sand.

I'm crossing it.

Watch this spot.

You Ought'a See The Other Guy!

Roy Cooper, Attorney General of our beloved North Carolina and generally a fine fellow, the same man who's been personally manning trade show booths all across NC to warn citizens about the dangers of identity theft, threw a sucker punch.

A few weeks ago, it was discovered that hundreds of Catawba County school kids' social security numbers were found online on what was understood to be a password-protected website. The school system was horrified and immediately pulled the information offline and began notifying parents.

But they didn't have to.

In 2005, Democrat Senator Dan Clodfelter of Charlotte, NC, sponsored a breach notification bill written by Roy Cooper's office. The sucker punch came in the form of NC government exempting itself from notifying residents whose identity may be compromised.

Oh they require it of banks, supermarkets, fine department stores everywhere and anyone else in business; just not of themselves.

Senator Clodfelter's response was cavalier. "We never get everything right when we first go at it. That's why we meet every year."

Well in the year since you all met, Mr. Clodfelter, over 88 million nationwide have
become victims of identity theft. Or to put it in more serious language, 88 million voters.

But you have to give it to the Senator for responding, since Roy Cooper's office was (and still is) silent on the subject.

And they have a lot of questions to answer. Why did you publish North Carolinians' private information online? And now faced the danger, why do you continue to do so? Are you aware of how many common documents in these offices contain social security numbers for thieves, physical addresses for stalkers, and complete household inventories inside separation agreements for burglars?

FindMyID.com is determined to inform every North Carolinian of the danger these government websites pose.

When that happens, Roy Cooper will be the one with the proverbial big black eye.

Meet The Press --- Check.

Yesterday's interview with the Independent Tribune went well. Very well. To say the kind reporter was surprised at all I'd produced by clicking around the local land registry websites would be an understatement. The article is scheduled for print next weekend.

As soon as I left the newspaper office I called a few friends who had asked to let them know how it went. No one expected much response and in fact, were surprised I had gotten a response at all from the press.

It was (and still is) my belief that 'the press' no matter who or where they are, aren't aware of this beast of a story until one of us presents it in the startling detail we see every day. So responses from my paralegal friends on the phone all went something like this: "You're sure he's reporting on it? Did he actually SAY he'd write the story?"

Looking back through archives of the Salisbury Post for similar local situations reminded me of a year or so ago when Rowan County's Register of Deeds, Bobbie Earnhardt, defended her position to the city council. Did anyone even read that series of articles?

According to Mrs. Earnhardt, one of the area's real estate agents complained after the county website was taken down because she had to drive "16 miles each way" just to collect documents "and with today's high gas prices, too!"

Well God forgive us all.

If we had just realized we were trading American security for the inconvenience of Bobbie Earnhardt and her friends, obviously we wouldn't have gone so far.

Bobbie Earnhardt's band-aid of a solution in Rowan County was to use a password and username to access the records. Whew. Since safe, local, honest residents are the only ones who want access to the documents, we'll all sleep better at night.

My message to Bobbie Earnhart: You're up for re-election, maybe that will force you to re-think your position. I challenge you to stop selling out your neighbors and friends, and provide some realistic security.

I also challenge you to provide the Salisbury Post with an IP log of visitors to your website. If common courtesy to your neighbors in Salisbury hasn't appealed to you, perhaps reading an IP log will appeal to your common sense.

India does not need free access to Rowan County records. And if India isn't on your IP list, I owe you lunch at College BBQ and a public apology.

Making A List...

"Enough is enough!" I said. If our back-slapping elected officials aren't going to do anything about this then by golly I am. My career is beyond repair anyway, thanks to outsourcing of *your* personal documents. What do I have to lose?

My first call was to the local newspapers. Fortunately, one investigative reporter called back out of curiosity. It wasn't an easy sell since the term 'ID theft" has become about as common as 'compassion fatigue' in the news. But I gave him just enough local dirt to spark interest.

The list of names and social security numbers I have to hand over reads like a Who's Who of ________ County. (Names will follow...after Friday's interview.) Doctors, lawyers, the police chief, local sheriff, every judge except one, all with maps to their homes and identified by social security number. And all courtesy of our local land registry and their handy website. Maybe this crowd will make enough noise to get something done.

Is your name among The List?

Check out www.FindMyId.com and we'll let you know.

Or, you could just wait for the weekend paper.

Your Personal Independence Day

Freedom is a warm and fuzzy word as long as it allows us to do as we please and requires little effort. We all know its true meaning and witness daily the sacrifice our countrymen make to assure it.

So when did YOU last contribute to America's freedom?

One simple way with huge impact is to call your local land registry and ask if they publish your records online. If so, demand they that stop immediately and remove all online record-keeping.

While this may seem trite, you have to ask why we're putting American soldiers in harm's way every day when terrorists have documented that 80% of their training manuals were created using America's online records.

On behalf of just one soldier, Do Your Part!

Happy Independence Day.

Another Victim...

Yesterday I received a request from a lady in Texas to search her public records. She was pretty sure there was nothing revealing online but since we offer a free service, she figured why not check.

What she got was an eye-opener.

From the comfort of my home in NC, I compiled and returned a shocking report on this citizen. Her name, former name, address, former addresses, maps to both, dates of marriages and divorces, photos of her home, how much she owed on it, copies of her signature, and much more. All courtesy of Texas public records.

Are you sure your identity is secure? Get in touch, I'll let you know.

www.FindMyID.com

Think Your ID Is Secure? We Found It Online.

You'll never guess who put it there.

All across America, county offices are succombing to the demands of title companies, major financial institutions and data brokers to sell their stash of community idenitities at wholesale prices. Using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), they take county registries of deeds and recorder offices to court - and often win. Or, they simply hand over enough cash to satiate your local registrar and walk away with your life history.

Many states have passed laws recently to redact this information but the public is generally unaware of it. Probably because the public is also blissfully unaware that their own county offices have sold them to the highest bidder.

The redaction forms are a joke, anyway. They direct the public to find their documents, then list within the body of the document where the sensitive information is located - and then ask you to list that information. Problem is, the list of approved information for redaction is so limited that the law is essentially useless.

Think this doesn't affect you? Send me a note with your name and county, no more. I'll reply with everything your county land records has posted for the entire world to see. That's right - the entire world - meaning anyone, anywhere, with computer access. Your name, address, photos of your home, spouse's name, social security numbers, bank numbers, judgments and liens, separation agreements which list complete inventories of your home, who got what in the divorce and where the kids are going this weekend - all courtesy of your local land registry.

For more information, go to www.FindMyID.com