Types Of Public Records - What Records Should Be Made Public?

There are certain types of public records maintained by the Government in different categories. The Federal and State governments tabulate and keep records about individuals, organizations and practices. These records are accessible to public by directly applying to the Government or through several sites, which act as information brokers and contain data about individuals. There is a controversy regarding what records can be termed as public and which information should be kept private.

Public Records And Private Information:

With the easy accessibility of public records, a person’s privacy is under threat. The following types of public records fall in the category of records available to anyone, thus in the true sense are public records. Some examples are - Driver’s license and driving records, motor vehicle registration, land titles, property tax, voting registration, firearm permits, court records, bankruptcy, criminal cases, divorces, juror information, jail lists, boat and aircraft licenses and registration, US postal services address records, wills, law enforcement records, political contributions, hunting and fishing licenses, to name a few.

There are certain records, which are termed as personal records, but through availability of other types of public records; the following information can be collected about an individual: name, age, address, employment, home ownership, home loan, accessed value of loan, automobile loans, driving records etc. If you are making use of the records for background checking, finding friends, property title, or other genuine reasons, then these records come very handy. But if someone wants to misuse all the personal and financial information collected from this data, there is no way to stop such people. Thus, what types of public records should be actually made public and what needs to be governed tightly for an individual’s privacy sake, is a debatable issue.