Friday, September 29, 2006

God Bless the FBI

Speaking with an FBI agent yesterday about the online records system across the country in general and in North Carolina specifically, and the responses received when people learn of our efforts. The general public is always thankful but with the exception of less than a dozen, the response of the registry system is nearly always hostile.

"Why would they act this way over something so obvious?" I asked.

He laughed, "Any time you have a hostile reaction to such an obviously wrong situation, someone has a lot of money at stake".

Well there's a reason those folks are chosen for their position.

We knew there was probably big money at stake, but there's no good reason for the registry system to be defensive. As someone who's been in nearly every courthouse in North Carolina for years I can understand why these folks would grab whatever opportunity that came along to better their office - even when it may not have been the smartest move.

Most registries seem to be an afterthought in their counties and have been since their inception. They're relegated to the smallest available dusty space and receive a disproportionate amount of county support in the way of taxes. By the time a software vendor or ten came along with a big check, these recorders of deeds saw larger, cleaner, offices, up-to-date technology, and shorter lines.

There's nothing wrong with that and in fact, I'd probably think the same. The problem is that it's gone too far. If registries would have stopped with an index online no one would be complaining. That would assist any attorney or paralegal or title company and give them a head start in their research, but would require crooks all over the world to show their faces inside the offices if they wanted to steal your county's data.

It isn't too late to roll back the clock. True, whatever's out there is out there now all over the world, but the court system is dealing with that breach directly with the software companies - and they do not have to answer to the voters. The registries do, but should know that voters are forgiving and have short memories.

If you're a recorder who sold your county's history of records to one or more data brokers or software companies, it isn't too late to stop. But don't throw good money after bad. And don't place your county office above your constituents' safety.

Publish the index, not the document image with identifying information. Because when there's a hostile attitude over such an obviously wrong situation, it makes me want to utilize the Freedom of Information Act to find out how many times your county's records were sold, to whom, how much you received, and where that money went.

God bless the FBI.

www.FindMyID.com

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

NCARD Conference 2006

The North Carolina Register of Deeds 54th Annual Conference is being held this week in Cumberland County, NC. Hosted by other NC Counties and about an equal number of software companies all vying for county business, I find it more than a little unsettling.

Think about it..

You pay taxes in part to fund county services such as the housing of your precious documents which contain sensitive data including, but not limited to, social security numbers, home addresses, and signatures.

The guardians of those records meet with other guardians across the state to exchange information and attend seminars, again hosted by software companies.

The software companies asking for county business are hosts with gifts and cash to bestow on county representatives.

Legal? Apparently so.

Ethical? Hardly.

If you'd care to see what these virtuous civil servants are posting online about you, get in touch. I'll search your records, send the report back to you, and include names, addresses, and phone numbers of where to complain once you see it - and you will want to. Just don't bother them this week. They're all busy in Cumberland County.

www.FindMyID.com

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Roy Cooper, I Apologize.

NC Attorney General Roy Cooper deserves a big public apology from me and I want to make it in a big public way since I blasted him in the same way just a few weeks ago.

I was wrong in believing his efforts were insincere as he traveled about North Carolina warning against ID theft. Turns out we feel exactly the same way on that topic. As early as last year he wanted to close down state and county websites listing sensitive information but was voted down by legislature, a fact I can't understand for the life of me and one that he's still fuming about. You can bet I'll seek out their personal information and send it to the press, though, giving them a taste of the outrage they serve to average Carolinians every day.

Roy Cooper is still touring and spreading the word, and so am I. Neither one of us will stop until all North Carolinians' records are safely back in the courthouse vaults, where they belong.

In the meantime, I'll keep seeking the addresses and social security numbers of every politician, commissioner, lobbyist, and other public officials, and forward on to the press, giving them a sense of the betrayal they serve to average citizens every day.


www.FindMyID.com

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Governor Mike Easley

Esse Quam Videri.

That's the motto of the Great State of North Carolina. It means, "To be, rather than to seem".

This is a fitting time to bring up the motto, given North Carolina's public relations brand of concern on identity theft, and now that the Honorable Governor Easley declared September to be "ID THEFT AWARENESS MONTH".

This proclamation from the same state posting hundreds of thousands of social security numbers online on various government websites.

The same state that tolerates our Register of Deeds system selling resident information to data brokers at wholesale prices.

And, where Attorney General maintains an entire website warning against INTERNET ID THEFT.

Until North Carolina realistically protects its citizens, I'd like to propose a new Latin motto:

di immortales virtutem approbare, non adhibere debent

(We may expect the gods to approve virtue, but not endow us with it.)

If you're concerned about ID Theft (not just seeming to be), get in touch.

www.FindMyID.com

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

9/11 In the Rear View Mirror.

FACT
Terrorists' training manuals state 80% of the information needed was retrieved from online records.

FACT
Every day since 9/11, more counties across America go online and publish citizens' land records, gas and utility pipelines, school bus routes, and social security numbers on the internet.

There is a crystal clear line between public record and public access.

Will you require your county recorder to respect that line and act in the best interest of American security?


www.FindMyID.com

Friday, September 01, 2006

Surry County, Where Less Is More

If you watched 20/20 tonight you already know the debate was whether more money to public schools better educates and prepares children. According to reporter John Stossels and his guests, an increase in funds rarely increases knowledge and in fact, often hinders it. When parents are allowed to choose a school system based on its success rate, schools underneath that successful rate will rise to the occasion or risk closing. Makes perfect sense to me.

The scream for more money is often the hollow excuse when someone needs a reason to deflect attention from their inability to do a job well.

You can see where this is going, can't you.

More isn't always better. Sometimes more is just, well, more.

And when government is in the business of handling your personal documents, the amount of money involved has absolutely nothing to do with how well you're cared for.

Meet Carolyn Comer, Register of Deeds in Surry County, NC. Mrs Comer states her county records will be on the internet when she has the permission of each and every citizen of Surry County.

You must be thinking Surry County is a tiny, rural county with low population and backwater ways. On the contrary. Surry County is by no means the largest area in NC, but certainly isn't the smallest, and if backwater means common sense, they have it in spades.

Thanks to millions of dollars worth of technology in the highly intellectual counties of Durham, Wake, and others, anyone in the world can look online and see where you live, when you moved there, how much you paid for it, the tax value, see a photo, and swipe a copy of your signature while they're at it. Same with pseudo-sophisticated Mecklenburg County just down the road in NC, where Commissioner Chairman Parks Helms said he would have to "think long and hard" before exempting even police officers' home addresses from online publishing. (Apparently he's still thinking.)

Not so in Surry County, NC, The Home of Efficient Government. I just gave them that motto but it fits well. Here are a couple of others.

Surry County, Real Time Government in a High Tech World, who avoids high-tech crime by avoiding fast-talking software salesmen and data brokers.

Surry, The Home of Campaign Promises Kept, where, years ago, Registrar Carolyn Comer stated in her Board of Elections bio: "My top priority is just trying to be a good register of deeds and custodian of our records, safeguarding our records".

Or this one; Surry County, The Good Neighbor Place To Live, since employees in Carolyn Comer's office are instructed to look for sensitive information and then call each and every resident affected to alert them and see if they want it blacked out -- even though the records remain inside the courthouse.

Mecklenburg and Orange and Cabarrus and Rowan Counties can all boast of their World Class status and proactive governmental planning, but you have to ask yourself one big question: Where would you prefer to live?

This is generally where I wind things up and remind everyone to get in touch if they fear their personal information is in danger due to online county websites. But if you live in Surry County, don't write. You have nothing to fear. Carolyn Comer's got your back.

Any other resident in the US may want to get in touch by sending a note to FindMyID@mindspring.com so I can check your records, free of charge. I'll let you know what's online and how you can redact it. If, that is, your county has purchased that shiny, new, expensive redaction software.

www.FindMyID.com