And many states are continuing to post SSNs in so-called Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) documents on their public Web sites, she said. UCC documents are filed with the state by banks and other creditors when an individual takes out certain types of loans.

But a growing number do appear to be attempting to fix the problem, she added. "The more publicity this has gotten the more people are getting to know about the issue," she said. "I think a lot of people are beginning to put the skids on this sort of stuff" she said.

In October, for example, the council that oversees Washington's King County which includes Seattle passed an ordinance requiring the recorders office to remove online access to all title deed documents. The vote followed the discovery by a council member of more than 200 SSNs, including those of several public figures and athletes, in title deed documents on the county Web site.

Fears that the ordinance would hurt the county's business with mortgage companies and others prompted some resistance from the county recorder's office initially, said a spokesman for Regan Dunn, the councilman who sponsored the bill. But the title deeds have been pulled down from the site and won't be restored until the Social Security Numbers are somehow blocked from public view, the spokesman said.

In another example, the recorder's office in Grant County, Indiana, pulled all of its document images from the Internet in July after a lawsuit related to identity theft was filed against the county. "There are no definite plans to put them back up on the Internet although Social Security Numbers will be redacted starting next year," said County Recorder Dixi Fischer Conner.