Wisconsin Circuit Court Access - Potential For Abuse

Potential For Abuse

Privacy advocate and Wisconsin State Assembly Representative Marlin Schneider (D) has said

This easy access to information via computer constitutes a serious threat to individuals' reputations, job applications, housing and even getting a date. It has been used for identify theft, election mischief, and needs to be controlled. In a state which prides itself on access to information it is unlikely that anything will be done about this until a Supreme Court Justice or Governor is the victim of this insidious system.

Representative Schneider is also on the CCAP Oversight Committee.

Judge Gary Carlson of the Wisconsin Circuit Court has said that people should be able to find out if someone served time. He said public records are public whether it's on the Internet or a hard-copy file. Judge Carlson said,

These are public records. These are the people's records. They're not mine. They're not yours. The people have paid for these records. They own them. They're their records. And they're entitled to see what is going on in their court system.

Judge Carlson served on the CCAP Creation Committee and continues to serve on the Oversight Committee.

Free information advocates argue that WCCA does not contain any more personal information than the phone book - it does not include Social Security numbers - so it does not make identity theft any easier.