And they aren't alone by any means. The failure to remove sensitive data from images of land records and other public documents posted online has made county government Web sites across the U.S. a veritable treasure trove of information for identity thieves and other criminals, several privacy advocates claimed last week.

"These sites are just spoon-feeding criminals the information they need," said BJ Ostergren, a Virginia resident who runs a privacy-related Web site called The Virginia Watchdog.

The pieces of personally identifiable information found on county Web sites and made available to Computerworld by Ostergren and other privacy advocates included the Social Security number of Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas) on a tax lien document; the Social Security numbers of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his wife on a quitclaim deed from 1999; the driver's license numbers, vehicle registration information, height, race and addresses of people arrested for traffic violations; the names and birth dates of minors from divorce decrees; and complete copies of death certificates.

"All of this information is available to anyone sitting in a cafe in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world," said David Bloys, a retired private investigator who publishes a newsletter called "News for County Officials" in Shallowater, Texas. "It's a real security threat."

Scope of Threat Unknown