Clerk of Court to stop free service

Citing cases of misuse, inappropriate use and cyber bullying using the information readily available on the Clerk of Court’s free online service, Clerk of Court Malise Prieto said Friday that the free data availability service will stop.

Instead, a system similar to that currently used, a premium for-fee service, will be instituted, possible as early as the end of July.

Information, data and records can still be accessed without charge by coming into the Clerk of Court’s office in person, said Prieto.

Until now, anyone could access informational data online from their home without a fee. Prieto said this has become a problem for a variety of reasons.

Students have been known to gather information from the site and post it with a link to the clerk’s website on social networks such as facebook. Information about their parents, their friends’ parents, including divorces, arrest records and other information, some of it false or misleading, has lead to cyber bullying.

Other persons have misused the service as well, obtaining partial information for improper uses against people and “for hurtful purposes,” said Prieto.

Prieto said that in addition, the information could by used for falsifying identification, leading to ID fraud.

“I think it’s a type of fad,” said Prieto, “and will run its course. But by charging an online fee, we will serve three purposes. First, it will help stop identification fraud. Second, it will help stop this cyber-bullying. And third, the funds will help support the appropriate usage of the site and the information.”

Prieto said that in comparing the problems of the free service with other clerks across the state, the problems have been similar in nature, leading almost all to charge a fee for online data recovery.

By charging a fee, other safeguards will kick in for data used to create identity theft.

She said the office is a fee-for-service and receives no support from taxes.

People will be able to sign up for the service online by using their credit card. The fee will be $5 per day or $30 per month.