Public records are documents or pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally relate to government behavior.
For example, in California, when couples fill out the marriage license application, they have the option to check the box whether the marriage is "confidential" (Record will be closed, and not open to the public after being recorded) or "public" (Record will be a public record after it was recorded ). In essence, if the marriage record is public, a copy of the note may be ordered from the area where the wedding took place.
Video Public records
Histori
Since the earliest organized society, with taxation, disputes, etc., required some sort of record. In ancient Babylonian records are stored in nail writing on clay tablets. In the Inca Empire in South America, which has no writing, the record is stored through the intricate form of a knot in a rope, quipu, which means it has been lost.
In Western Europe in the Middle Ages Final public records included census records as well as birth, death and marriage records; an example is 1086 Book of Domesday from William the Conqueror. Details of royal marriage treaties, which are effectively international treaties, are also recorded. The Law on the British Public Records Office, which formalized the records by establishing the Public Record Office, was ratified in 1838.
Maps Public records
Public notes
- Legal court records
- Wedding records
- Death note
- Voters roll
Access to public records
Although public records are public business records, they are not always available without restrictions, although the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) which has been gradually introduced in many areas since the 1960s has made access easier. Each government has policies and regulations governing the availability of information contained in public records. A general limitation is that data about a person is usually not available to others; for example, the California Public Records Act (PRA) states that "except for certain explicit exclusions, personal information stored about a person should not be disclosed without the person's consent".
In Britain, the Cabinet's letters are subject to thirty-year rule: until the introduction of FOI legislation, the cabinet papers are not available for thirty years; some information may be retained for longer. In 2011 the rules still apply to some information, such as minutes of Cabinet meetings.
Some companies provide access, for a fee, to many public records available on the Internet. Many of them specialize in certain types of information, while some offer access to different types of records, usually for professionals in various fields. Some companies sell software with the promise of seamless access to public records, but may provide no more than basic information on how to access publicly available websites that are generally free.
Every year news media, civil groups, libraries, non-profit organizations, schools and other groups interested in sponsoring "Sunlight Week." Sunshine Sunday took place in mid-March, coinciding with the anniversary of James Madison and the Day of National Freedom of Information on the 16th. The purpose of this week was to highlight the idea that "the best government function when operating in the open."
In many states, state legislatures are often excluded from public record laws that apply to state executives and local officials. In 2016, the Associated Press made requests for emails and daily schedules of state legislative leaders (speakers of state buildings and state Senate presidents) in all 50 states; the majority refused the request.
Court records
Of great importance is the evolution of common-law rights "to access court records to examine and copy". The expectation inherent in a common legal right to access court records is that anyone can come to the court clerk's office during office hours and request to check the court records, with almost instantaneous access. Such rights are a central safeguard of court integrity. Any decision to hide court records requires a sealing order. The right to access the court files is also a center of freedom: There is no way to use Habeas Corpus's right, which is considered by the late Brennan Judge as the "foundation" of the US Constitution, the absence of access to court records as public records.
In the United States, the general law of the right to "access court records to examine and copy" has been reaffirmed by the US Supreme Court at Nixon v Warner Communications, Inc. (1978), where courts find different sections of rights to access the court records attached to the First Amendment, Fourth, Sixth, and Fourth. In the United States access to court records is regulated by Civil Rights in the US Constitutional Amendment, not by the Freedom of Information Act.
Because court records are becoming increasingly accessible online, concerns about undermining personal information have become a significant issue. In the past, obtaining court records required people to physically go to the courthouse and ask for documents, making privacy issues essentially obsolete. However, with the relative ease with which people can now access this record, highly sensitive information (such as the victim's name, social security number, etc.) are at risk of being exploited publicly.
In the United States
Access to US national public records is guided by the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Requests for access to records under FOIA may be rejected by a federal agent if the requested information is subject to an exception, or some information may be deleted.
In addition to the national FOIA, all countries have some form of FOI law. For example, Colorado has the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA); in New Jersey the law is known as the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).
There are many levels of accessibility to public records between countries, with some making it quite easy to request and receive documents, and others with many restricted exceptions and categories of documents. One country that is responsive to public record requests is New York, which uses the Open Government Committee to help citizens with their requests. A country strict enough in the way they respond to requests for public records is Pennsylvania, where the current law presumes that all documents are exempt from disclosure unless they can be demonstrated otherwise. The California Public Records Act (California Government Code) contains arrests and records of detainees in California State prisons and prisons, which are not covered by First Amendment rights (a. freedom of speech and press). Public access to arrest and order records is seen as an important protection of freedom.
Use of public records
With the advent of the Internet and the information age, access to public records in the United States to anyone who wants to see it increases dramatically. Third parties such as the information broking industry commonly use public records to collect easily accessible profiles on millions of people, and can benefit from data recompilation and data mining services.
Public records data are used for a variety of purposes, such as ensuring that child benefit payments are made as determined by the courts, assisting credit bureaus in maintaining accurate data and helping to pay pension benefits to pensioners.
Access to criminal records in the United States
Individual criminal history is generally regarded as a public record in the United States and is often accessed through a background check on criminal history, but "access and use of criminal-held criminal record information is traditionally limited and controlled on a large scale to protect the privacy of individuals associated with the record. "The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act applies" fair information practice requirements by consumer reporting agencies that report public record information, such as criminal history records, for work purposes, "and some state consumer protection legislation enacted more stringent regulations.
According to the Committee of Journalists for Press Freedom, in the United States, arrest records "are generally open to the public except for active or ongoing investigations.Some countries restrict information that can be obtained from arrest records, especially when it comes to persons who have never been prosecuted, released or their records are eliminated.Once, the determination will often result in a counterbalance test that compares the public interest in disclosing individual privacy interests. "Conversely, the protection of juvenile prisoners and juvenile records is excluded from most state-wide laws, such as" teenager, parent or guardian, or any other party directly involved in legal matters. "
Destruction of public records
In early 2018, the National Archive posted a web page, "Unauthorized Disposition of Federal Records", to publish all instances of investigation into the possibility of destruction of unauthorized records.
See also
- Freedom of information Act
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Personal identity information (PII)
- United States privacy law
- Public records in China
- General Record Office
- Sunlight Week
- List of Public Offices
References
Additional readings
- The public record request paper file - and the city response is a lawsuit. "Local officials argue the Montana court should balance between privacy and disclosure." Reviews of Colombian Journalism
External links
- Guide to Public Records from UCB GovPubs Library
- Publications from the Government of the U.S. from USA.gov
- It Takes FOIA Lawsuit to Uncover How the Obama Administration Kills FOIA Reform, News Reporters
- Microsoft: Government Public Data Records from Eskel Porter Consulting
- Center for Public Integrity
- The media coalition sued the McCrory administration for the record, WRAL
- Snooze Game: Administration McCrory dragged his feet on our public record lawsuit, IndyWeek
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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