With technology allowing for easier access to electronic opinions of the courts, some have had concerns as to the extent to which personally identifiable information is included in these opinions. Some of these fears center around the social security numbers of participants in legal cases and purchased by third parties.   Recently, the Government Accountability Office presented a report on this topic through its website. 
Here is an excerpt from the report:

“Various public records in the United States contain Social Security numbers (SSN) and other personal identifying information that could be used to commit fraud and identity theft. For the purposes of this report, public records are generally defined as government agency-held records made available to the public in their entirety for inspection, such as property and court records.

Although public records were traditionally accessed locally in county courthouses and government records centers, public record keepers in some states and localities have more recently been maintaining electronic images of their records. In electronic format, records can be made available through the Internet or easily transferred to other parties in bulk quantities.”
To read the rest of the report check it out here: Social Security Numbers Are Widely Available in Bulk and Online Records, but Changes to Enhance Security Are Occurring.  This information comes from a fellow county law librarian Joe Hodnicki’s blog called “Law Librarian’s Blog.”