Question
Is there anyway that someone could remove my public records from being widely available on the internet? I feel uncomfortable about this and, believe it or not, this has taken a toll on my life. I am clean but I also like to keep my personal life private like those other people who never live in the USA. I have not been residing in USA for almost 10 years now and there’s no reason that my public records are out there. I do not owe any debts either. No need to apply for credits in the future, too. Please help if there’s anything I could do to resolve this dilemma. Just need help to remove me completely!
Answer
The general rule of thumb is that information contained in public records is public information, not private, and so there would be no prohibition against public agencies posting that information on the internet. We are aware of no mechanism by which you could remove all references to yourself from public records available on the internet. In fact, it may violate federal, state or local laws if a governmental agency were to try to remove all references even from that agency’s records. However, if there is specific information about you that is personal and private in nature or covered by one of the exemptions to the federal, state or local open records laws, you could contact the agency responsible for that record and ask that the exemption information be removed from the internet.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.