Lake Co. recorder wading through millions of documents to protect IDs

Digital detectives are set to have a go at more than 70 years of records to black out sensitive information.

Pending approval of a contract with the company that provides the records management system and service, Social Security numbers contained in more than 25 million pages of documents in the Lake County Recorder's office will be obscured from view.

"All of our documents are public so we've always been concerned about the Social Security numbers out there," said Lake County Recorder Mary Ellen Vanderventer.

"We've never had the authority to go in and redact the numbers."

That power comes from a state law effective Jan. 1, which requires county recorders to remove the numbers, with some exceptions. It also allows recorders to reject documents that include Social Security numbers, a practice that has been ongoing in Lake County.

Vanderventer said the law requires a plan be developed to redact the numbers from all publicly displayed documents. That applies to public computers in the office and on the online subscriber Internet service.

Exceptions include all state and federal liens and documents required by law to contain a Social Security number.

That information will be maintained on the originals and available if needed, but will be blacked out in scanned copies.

"The most common one is your mortgage," Vanderventer said. "When you recorded your deed and mortgage, it had your Social Security number."

As proposed, the work would be done by Cott Systems of Worthington, Ohio. The company since 2005 has been responsible for the recorder's electronic services and support.

While they will use software to obscure the numbers, Cott employees will have to search more than 25 million images, a process that will take up to a year.

"It's a huge undertaking," Vanderventer said. "That's where the cost comes in - every single document. It's (Social Security number) not always on Page 3."

The anticipated cost is more than $638,000, which was budgeted last year.

Cott is the only source that can upgrade the system, Vanderventer said, and a special review determined the purchase was exempt from bidding on that basis.

Funds to pay the contract come from recording fees channeled into an automation fund.

"That money can only be used to upgrade the technology in our office," according to Vanderventer.

The unauthorized use of the numbers has not been a problem but the work will make the system safer. She said the work would begin with the most current records and go back to 1935.