True. And if you have information that is of public record (ie, mechanic's lien) then the person you are talking about doesn't have much recourse.
Something to check with an attorney. Many records that are called "public record" are on private network and it doesn't mean its freely accessible by anyone anonymously (i.e. not searchable by anyone on network).
Infractions are public record. Washington state court's website used to allow search by infraction type and name. For example, you type in your friend's name on their query form, it would return every type of infraction he received, criminal, traffic and infractions within the State of Washington. These records are still "public" but there are usage restrictions. Out of privacy concerns, they're no longer available in this format.
One could still go to the court house and still get the relevant records, but it doesn't stop the court from requiring the requester to provide information and make "who requested records?" to become public as well.
Here is the rub. There is Angie's list and many other sites where a home owner can rate a contractor. But if we try to make a site where we rate the homeowner we can get in trouble? How does Angie's List get away with what they do?
It is generally frowned upon and I certainly think its against professional ethic. Patients are able to post reviews on doctors too, but their reply must not violate HIPAA.
If you think you can call out customers publicly for payment issues, why shouldn't creditors be able to publish your late payments, delinquency etc? HIPAA protects your health information, but why shouldn't providers be able to publish patients with delinquent accounts?
To health care providers your statement "but insurance was supposed to pay for it" for services they provide on your body is on par with "but my wife was supposed to pay for the other half" on service you privde on their house.
Should they index and make public everything about your delinquent account so people can search you and find out "John Doe DOB of address has $15,355 in unpaid debt to xyz medical clinic" ? Even if it didn't break the law, it's certainly in bad taste.
Many contractors use "PO BOX" to not publish their home address.
But does the business owner vote? Who owns business is public record.
Does that person vote? If so, address is obtainable from voter's registration, a public record.
Is he married? Marriage license is a public record.
Does she happen to be a state employee? What does she do and how much doe she make? That's public too, but requires submitting ultiple requests to different areas of public agencies to get all that.
How would you like it if someone made a site to make all of that accessible all at once through a click?
