Finding the resources needed for the task can be a big problem, said Sue Baldwin director of the Broward County records division in Florida. "The main challenge has been dedicating sufficient personnel to review the 'probably qualifying' documents queued up by the [redaction] software," she said.

To meet that challenge, the Secretary of State's office in Missouri hired three part-time workers and four staffers. The team has been working since summer to redact Social Security numbers from about 75,000 UCC documents on its Web site. A spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's office said that so far about 20,000 records have been redacted; The plan going forward is to bring in an "electronic redaction system" to help complete the task, she said.

But the success of redaction efforts remains in question said David Bloys a retired private investigator who publishes a newsletter called "News for Public Officials" in Shallowater, Texas.

Bloys said he checked Travis County's Web site last week "and the very first document I found on their Web site contained social security numbers, drivers license information and a home address on the first page," he said. Subsequent pages in the document provide details about the individual's financial, family and medical information, he added. What's worse is that the Web site had numerous pages like that, Bloys claimed. there are numerous such pages still up on the county Web site. "Redaction just doesn't work," Bloys said. "I think the only way to really protect these documents is to make sure they stay within the four walls of the court house," he said.