Court OKs Web Posting Of Social Security Numbers
A Virginia privacy advocate can post public records containing Social Security numbers of private citizens as well as government officials on her website, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
The court agreed with B.J. Ostergren's claim that a 2008 state law prohibiting anyone from making Social Security numbers available to the public violated her First Amendment rights.
Ostergren posts the records on her website, TheVirginiaWatchdog.com, to publicize her message that governments are mishandling Social Security numbers and to prod them to correct the problem. Many of the documents are Virginia land records that court clerks have made available on government websites without redacting Social Security numbers.
Subscribe