Opinion -- Publication of Tax Data Violates Law

By Julia Wideman

Citizens,

1. As citizens, we have a right to privacy and security of our personal information.

The Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) law allows the county assessor the use of motor vehicle records in the carrying out of their duties for tax assessment purposes only. It does not allow for the publication of those records. DPPA is federal and state law. And we believe that Worth County, as well as any other Missouri county which has published VIN numbers, has violated DPPA law.

2. The Sunshine Law was enacted to protect citizens from the government. The government is supposed to be transparent.

There is no mention in the county minutes about what specific information that our assessor and collectors’ offices would be sharing online under the guise of, “It’s all public record anyway,” and it’s the “Sunshine Law.”

There are some in office who interpret the Sunshine Law to include publication of “public records.” This is a broad and liberal interpretation of that law which allegedly limits liability for our country officials when sharing citizen information while in reality risking the privacy and security of the very citizens they were elected to serve.

Your offices are a public trust. You are here to serve us.

As citizens, we oppose having our personal property and real estate lists available online for anyone to view, as it is akin to having our checking account and net worth available for anyone and everyone to see. This violation of public trust by our elected officials erodes the very foundation of our right to privacy as citizens.

Here is what we are asking:

1. Remove taxpayer information from being posted online and protect the citizens you were elected to serve. It’s called a Sunshine Law request for a reason.

2. Do your due diligence in researching what other counties are doing.

a. Gentry County uses Vanguard system and has very limited information posted online. This very fact alone demonstrates clearly that all of our information is not necessary to post online. Their system requires an 8-digit pin number that is sent directly and only to the taxpayer for personal online accounts which only the taxpayer can see.

b. Devnet may have an option to work as an “in-house” only program rather than being fully functional online. This could potentially save the county money. We also expect our government to publicize how much these programs cost and what information will be shared. The Sunshine Law requires transparency and accountability from our elected officials.

c. There is also the potential (if it’s not already in the works) for the Recorder of Deeds to be uploading deeds to an online platform. It’s been noted in the county minutes that on February 6th, 2023, the Recorder reported that she was digitizing microfilm. Before the Recorder moves information online, however, we expect the commissioners and Recorder of Deeds to research what specific information will be published online and how much information, if any, needs to be out online. Less is more. Again, it’s called a Sunshine Law request for a reason.

d. Limit our risk. While we understand that many of the records are public, there is no need whatsoever to publish those records in one single easy to access place with no accountability or safeguards in place for the taxpayers you serve. Information that is already a matter of “public record” should be made available on a secure server where the individual accessing the records would have to register their name, date, time in/out, and purpose. Have accountability in place and protect the privacy of the citizens you serve.

By law, we, as citizens, are required to report all taxable property and real estate. By law, we are required to pay those taxes or be penalized. But we do not see a need for the information that private citizens provide for tax assessment purposes to be broadcast in one place online for the whole world to see without Internet safeguards in place to protect the information of the citizens.

Some of this information may be public record by law, but our elected officials should be doing their dead-level best to protect their constituency instead of making us all vulnerable to the predations of those with ill intent.

To this end, we ask that you remove our information from being published online today. The December 31st tax deadline is past. We ask that you safeguard our information by either replacing the Devnet system or upgrading it so that our information is not searchable by every person with Internet access.