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Note from IBAT: The Texas Secretary of State's office is in process of redacting social security numbers from the UCC filings maintained by it. Given the concerns over identity theft and privacy, we have been asked to "get the word out" to IBAT members to encourage them to NOT include social security numbers on UCC filings. Please take a moment to read the information provided by Secretary Wilson on this important issue. |
SSN Information - Balancing Public Duties and Privacy Interests
| By Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson |
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August 21, 2007 |
Over the last several years, consumers, businesses and government at both the state and federal level have focused more and more attention on issues that relate to identify theft. One of these issues involves social security numbers, and the need to make sure that these and other forms of personal identifying information are protected from unauthorized disclosure to the public. In furtherance of this important goal, the Texas Legislature recently authorized government agencies to redact social security numbers from documents that are filed with their offices before they are made available to the public.
As far as the Secretary of State’s Office is concerned, we handle an enormous volume of information each and every day, as we file approximately 400,000 UCC financing statement each and every year. This information has been available to the public electronically since 1988, and in 2001, the SOS expanded access to public information and documents through SOSDirect, which permits a subscriber to search, view and make copies of the business entity records filed and maintained by this Office.
Since the implementation of SOSDirect, over 4 million UCC financing statements and lien records have been imaged and indexed by this Office. This feature allows lending institutions and other members of the public expeditious access to the information and documents necessary to make informed lending decisions. However, some of these public documents have included social security numbers for personal debtors. In light of the increasing level of scrutiny that has been given to this issue in recent years, as well as the public’s continuing expectation that their service providers respect and protect their personal information, we would like to solicit your cooperation in protecting your client’s privacy interests by asking that you not include personal SSN information in the public documents that you file with this Office.
For starters, Article 9 of the Texas Uniform Commercial Code has never required the inclusion of a debtor’s SSN or employer identification number (EIN) for a financing statement to be deemed sufficient. However, while SSN’s may not be (and never were) required to be filed under Texas law, the Texas Secretary of State may not refuse to file a UCC financing statements on the basis that it contains this information. Consequently, over the years the Secretary of State has faced conflicting obligations: on the one hand, we must fulfill our mandate under the Public Information Act to provide public access to governmental records, and yet we lack the statutory authority to refuse SSNs provided voluntarily by a filing party as supplemental information.
Nevertheless, the Texas Secretary of State has attempted in various ways throughout the years to discourage the inclusion of SSN information in UCC filings. In spite of these efforts, some UCC filers continue to provide SSN information within paper and electronic filings when not required by Texas law. Earlier this year, this Office expanded its redaction efforts by signing a contract with a vendor to redact SSNs from existing SOSDirect images created from documents submitted to this Office on paper or by fax and to provide a method for screening future images prior to posting on SOSDirect. In addition, Texas Secretary of State staff designed a system to redact SSNs from existing electronic filings and to screen those filings prior to acceptance and posting on SOSDirect.
The redaction project undertaken by this Office reveals that only a small percentage of the approximately 4 million scanned UCC financing statement and lien records needed to undergo a review for inclusion of possible SSN information and an even fewer number required redaction. While the review and redaction project undertaken by the Texas Secretary of State has consumed time, money, and resources, this Office feels confident that numbers specifically labeled as SSNs or in the SSN numbering format have been identified for the redaction process. Although the Texas Secretary of State will continue to remain vigilant and alert to the inclusion of SSN information in public records filed with this Office, we would like to ask for your cooperation in protecting client’s privacy interests by making the following suggestions.
• Use the IACA approved form posted on the Office web site when submitting a paper form to the Texas Secretary of State rather than the National standard form.
• Do not include a debtor’s SSN information within the collateral description in paper or electronic filings.
• Do not use a debtor’s SSN information in the Optional Filers Reference field.
• Do not use an individual debtor’s SSN information as an “Organizational ID.”
• Do not imbed SSN information within internal control or reference numbers unique to the filing party.
• If you have previously included SSN information in UCC filings, consider reviewing those filings on SOSDirect to ensure that the Office has identified and redacted that information.
Your support and assistance in our efforts to balance the need to fulfill our statutory duty in maintaining open access to public records with the need to protect privacy interests of individual debtors is appreciated.
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