4 ms·

I recently had some criminal charges expunged, and I notice they show up here. Is there any way to request removal of court records which are no longer publicl

I recently had some criminal charges expunged, and I notice they show up here. Is there any way to request removal of court records which are no longer publicly available from the originating court?

richardbarosky 5y ago
This is a possibility that there aren't any great solutions for currently. Can you message me on reddit with the link to check?
- jka 5y ago
  I'm not a lawyer: In the absence of a reporting mechanism for issues like this, I'd suggest at least a notice / message alongside results to indicate that they may not reflect the current state of official and amended records. (I think you may be wise to take this issue fairly seriously; there's a risk of people considering the search engine to be an authority in itself -- which, to be fair, is already a risk for any search engine, but since this one is more domain-focused, it's possible that some users could overdevelop a sense that the results are accurate and complete)
  - richardbarosky 5y ago
    This is stated in simple language on the terms page, which is linked at the top/middle of every page. You have to decide between putting the same text on every page vs. a high visibility place vs. a low visibility place. I opted for 2nd to make sure it's clear.
    - jka 5y ago
      Do most people read and comprehend terms pages before using the information they discover from search engines? (I don't know)
      - runnerup 5y ago
        Absolutely not. A vanishingly tiny percent ever click on the terms link.
        sharken 5y ago
        Indeed, so the only good option would be to only search public records. Everything else should not be searchable.
    - haswell 5y ago
      It’s good that this is listed in the terms, but this raises two concerns: 1) People don’t read terms. Should they? Yes. Do they? No. 2) This language is more like a disclaimer than a term of use. I would not assume that disclaimers about the accuracy of the result would be found in the terms. So yes, the terms link is prominent, but no, I don’t think it addresses this issue.
- drewmol 5y ago
  I tried you hn handle on Reddit it says user does not exist.
  - richardbarosky 5y ago
    aoeusnth48
  - ngold 5y ago
    I'm curious as well. Reddit me at napoleongoldfinger if that's cool?
- michaelmrose 5y ago
  Wouldn't it be easier for people to just individually sue not so much to achieve the end result but to shut down your operation under the costs incurred?
boomer918 5y ago
Isn't there laws protecting people against this? Expunged record should not be visible, right?
- richardbarosky 5y ago
  If a record is made public, it's always part of the public record. If a case has been expunged, those results are removed though because it's the right thing to do.
- Flashtoo 5y ago
  There are in Europe i.e. the GDPR but not in the US afaik.

I recently had some criminal charges expunged, and I notice they show up here. Is there any way to request removal of court records which are no longer publicly available from the originating court?

richardbarosky 5y ago

This is a possibility that there aren't any great solutions for currently. Can you message me on reddit with the link to check?

jka 5y ago
I'm not a lawyer: In the absence of a reporting mechanism for issues like this, I'd suggest at least a notice / message alongside results to indicate that they may not reflect the current state of official and amended records. (I think you may be wise to take this issue fairly seriously; there's a risk of people considering the search engine to be an authority in itself -- which, to be fair, is already a risk for any search engine, but since this one is more domain-focused, it's possible that some users could overdevelop a sense that the results are accurate and complete)
- richardbarosky 5y ago
  This is stated in simple language on the terms page, which is linked at the top/middle of every page. You have to decide between putting the same text on every page vs. a high visibility place vs. a low visibility place. I opted for 2nd to make sure it's clear.
  - jka 5y ago
    Do most people read and comprehend terms pages before using the information they discover from search engines? (I don't know)
    - runnerup 5y ago
      Absolutely not. A vanishingly tiny percent ever click on the terms link.
      - sharken 5y ago
        Indeed, so the only good option would be to only search public records. Everything else should not be searchable.
  - haswell 5y ago
    It’s good that this is listed in the terms, but this raises two concerns: 1) People don’t read terms. Should they? Yes. Do they? No. 2) This language is more like a disclaimer than a term of use. I would not assume that disclaimers about the accuracy of the result would be found in the terms. So yes, the terms link is prominent, but no, I don’t think it addresses this issue.
drewmol 5y ago
I tried you hn handle on Reddit it says user does not exist.
- richardbarosky 5y ago
  aoeusnth48
- ngold 5y ago
  I'm curious as well. Reddit me at napoleongoldfinger if that's cool?
michaelmrose 5y ago
Wouldn't it be easier for people to just individually sue not so much to achieve the end result but to shut down your operation under the costs incurred?

boomer918 5y ago

Isn't there laws protecting people against this? Expunged record should not be visible, right?

richardbarosky 5y ago
If a record is made public, it's always part of the public record. If a case has been expunged, those results are removed though because it's the right thing to do.
Flashtoo 5y ago
There are in Europe i.e. the GDPR but not in the US afaik.