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Bar News - September 17, 2004 Online Deed Information Popular; Identity Theft a Concern for Registers By: Dan Wise MORE THAN 700 inquiries come in each day to the Strafford County Register of Deeds’ Web site to access more than a million pages of records at www.nhdeeds.com. Strafford County Register Leo Lessard said the online access has been a boon to his office and his constituency, but he is concerned about the potential for the information to be abused. He favors legislation that would give him the authority to block out personal identification information in deeds posted for general Internet access. Lessard is concerned about public access to the social security numbers, signatures and causes of death on deeds—all key pieces of information for identity thieves. "That information is none of anyone’s business," he said. Registers are not allowed to alter documents in any way, thus handicapping them from protecting deed-holders or their families from the release of identity information. Merrimack County Register Kathy Guay said this issue is becoming increasingly important to deed registries around the country, as Internet access becomes more prevalent and the incidences of identity theft increase. Currently, seven of New Hampshire’s 10 counties offer online deed information—a service that has proven extremely popular. Strafford is among six counties that use the same administrative software in posting their deeds on a common web site, www.nhdeeds.com. Merrimack County, which uses another vendor, has its own web site, http://www.merrimackcounty.nh.us.landata.com/default.asp. Grafton, Coos and Carroll counties do not yet post deeds online. Some Registers do not want the authority, or responsibility, of shielding identity information on deeds. They feel that as registers of deeds their task is to provide information. "It would require a lot more work for us to hunt out every social security number in documents that are filed," said Cathy Stacy, Rockingham County Register of Deeds. She added, "You can’t remove information from these documents. It absolutely defeats the purpose of our office." Stacy said that it is important for the drafters of documents to remove unnecessary private information from documents before they are filed with the county registry. "We try to remind our attorneys that every document that they file with this office is a public document. It is their obligation not to put that kind of information out there if they do not have to." Some registers are also concerned about being saddled with the responsibility for preventing private information from being made available to the public. A bill was introduced last year that would restrict government agencies, individuals and businesses from posting or displaying social security numbers in any documents accessible to the public. HB 342 is currently in interim study and may be taken up again in the coming session. The bill also allows those harmed by the release of their social security number to litigate under the state’s Right to Privacy Act. A NH Supreme Court Task Force on Public Access is also dealing with this issue more broadly to Court Records, chaired by Superior Court Associate Justice Larry M. Smukler. The task force began meeting in June and expects to issue guidelines within a year (see July 23, 2004 issue of Bar News).
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