Public records refers to information that has been filed or recorded by local, state, federal or other government agencies, such as corporate and property records. Public records are created by the federal and local government, (vital records, immigration records, real estate records, driving records, criminal records, etc.) or by the individual (magazine subscriptions, voter registration, etc.). Most essential public records are maintained by the government and many are accessible to the public either free-of-charge or for an administrative fee. Availability is determined by federal, state, and local regulations.

Public records are held in physical files. Many public records are available via Internet or other sources; even though public records are indeed "public", their accessibility is not always simple, free or easy. Some states such as California have separate policies that govern the availability of information contained in public records. The California Public Records Act (PRA) states that "except for certain explicit exceptions, personal information maintained about an individual may not be disclosed without the person's consent."

Most businesses offering access to databases specialize in something particular, yet a few attempt to offer all sorts of available records to professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. Certain unscrupulous companies, who sell software with a promise of unlimited access to public records, generally provide nothing more than just basic information on how to access already available and generally free public Websites.

Public records in the United States

Controversy

With the advent of the Internet and the Information Age, access to public records in the U.S. to anyone who wishes to view them has dramatically increased. Third-parties such as the information broker industry make regular use of public records to compile profiles on millions of people that are easily accessible to anyone at the click of a mouse, and sometimes make a profit from the service of re-compiling and mining the data. Many private matters such as the full accounts of divorce cases, insurance lawsuits, voter registration (varying from state to state), and almost any other transactions people make with the government or do through a courthouse, is put into public records and made available for all eyes of society. Employers regularly do background checks either on their own or through information agencies, and often come across information about a job applicant that can impact on the job decision process. For instance, driving records would be important to a school district looking to hire a bus driver. And criminal histories would be important to a child care facility that is hiring a staff person. The institution of public records was created to make the government accountable for its actions and to make operation of the government transparent . However, the advent of the Information Age and electronic databases has promoted efficient large-scale shuffling and mass-compilation of personal information that some believe has created a "dossier society" -- a society in which everyone is subject to perpetual electronic profiles that document and amass everything known about an individual's private life. This has the effect and prognosis of invading the privacy of millions, preventing any social forgiveness for embarrassing matters that go through courts (civil and criminal) no matter how much time goes by, and creating a growing disenfranchised group of society.