Millions of older documents containing sensitive information were recorded before the public's sensibilities were heightened to the growing danger of identity fraud.

In the not-so-distant past, however, the records could be viewed or copied only by visiting the courthouse, creating an obstacle to opportunists.

''Some might argue that the whole redaction mandate is a very expensive overreaction that's going to be very beneficial to a few software companies,'' Ruvin said.

Other government websites, such as the Florida Department of State's Secured Transaction Registry, contain hundreds of thousands of additional Social Security numbers that the Legislature has not asked to be censored.

In 2002, the Florida Supreme Court placed a moratorium on electronic access while it worked to determine what information should be withheld from public view.

Last month, the court modified the moratorium to allow certain documents to be posted, but only after being scrubbed of sensitive information.

Online records also save taxpayers money, Julin noted. ''You eliminate the need for county employees to sift through paper records and respond to demands for them. It's much easier if people can open their laptops and search for documents themselves instead of lining up at a counter,'' Julin said.

Record keepers across the state have described the task of censoring entire file systems of documents as ''monumental'' and costly but blame the slow development of technology for the continued delays.

''The technology has been available for the last year or so, but it is still in new phases or beginning phases,'' said Beth Allman, a spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Court Clerks and Comptrollers. ''It works very, very well for certain configurations of numbers, but it doesn't always pick up handwriting or embedded numbers. Any document where these are in question will have to be scrutinized by a human, and it will take longer.''

REDACTION SOFTWARE

Broward County is currently testing the $180,000 redaction software it purchased in April, according to Baldwin, who said the editing process should be finished by next year.

Miami-Dade County had postponed its program until last month when it signed a $1.6 million contract with Stamford, Conn.-based NewVision Systems, which is coordinating the redaction program. It was concerned the Legislature might decide to do away with the requirement.

''We didn't want to be obligated to spend $1.6 million we might not have to spend,'' said Tom James, who manages the computer systems for Ruvin's office.

The Miami-Dade clerk's office will have to vet some 65 million images dating back to 1973. Of those, roughly 10 percent will need to be examined manually. The redaction should get underway early next month and be complete by July, James said.

Until then, anyone can go to the website, type in a name and rummage through scanned images of deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments and other records containing signatures, Social Security numbers, credit card, charge card and bank account numbers and notary stamps, among other choice information.

In 2002, it became illegal in Florida to include Social Security numbers (when not required by law) on documents that will be filed in the official record, but the burden falls on the individuals filing the documents, not the recorders.

While the original documents will be kept, only censored hard copies will be available to the public.

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