Council member: Sensitive info available on county Web site

Monday, June 26, 2006 · Last updated 9:20 p.m. PT

P-I STAFF

King County Elections has posted the Social Security numbers for potentially thousands of current and former county residents, County Council member Reagan Dunn said Monday.

"Within forty-five minutes, my staff was able to retrieve online documents with the Social Security numbers of numerous local elected officials and other high-profile individuals," Dunn said. "If we had a criminal agenda, these people would be victims of identity-theft by now."

Dunn said the problem was revealed when a constituent contacted his office to say that by performing a records search on herself, she had found her Social Security number on the county Web site.

In a letter to Dunn, King County Records, Elections, and Licensing Services chief Dean Logan said his office is required by law to keep public records like deeds, mortgages and liens, many of which contain sensitive information.

"We are also keenly aware that privacy is of the utmost importance. Consequently, in 2001 when the records website was initiated, the decision was made to not display images of documents that almost always contain personal identifiers," Logan said in his letter.

Recognizing that some documents may have been submitted for recording with a personal identifier embedded in the document, in 2003 King County developed procedures to allow for the removal of those images from the records Web site, Logan said. Such a mechanism is not currently available in other Washington counties where records indexes and images are available on-line, Logan said.

"As custodians of the record, we are unable to alter original documents and we are unable to refuse to record documents presented for recording. If a customer determines that an image is posted on our website that contains a Social Security number, drivers license number, or mother's maiden name, that customer may request that the image be "removed" from website viewing by emailing a no-fee request for immediate response and submitting a document for recording that audits and documents this process," Logan wrote.

Logan said information on how to request removal of a document are provided in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section on the county's Web site.

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