Privacy policy for court records explains how this site handles your personal data, search history, and device details when you look up public case files, civil court documents, criminal court records, or family court case files. This page covers what we collect, why we collect it, who we share it with, and what rights you hold over your data.
Court records searches involve sensitive legal records, so we follow strict rules on data use, storage, and sharing across every page of our public court records search system.
This site serves as a search service that helps you run a court case lookup, court file lookup, or court document search against public sources. We do not own the underlying court record database. We act as a connector that passes your search query to official or third-party data providers for online court records lookup. This privacy policy applies to our site only. Once you click a link that takes you to a state court site, federal court site, or third-party records provider, their own privacy policy applies to that electronic court records access session.
What This Privacy Policy Covers
This privacy policy covers all data we collect when you visit our site, run a court case lookup, or contact our support team. It applies to desktop browsers, mobile browsers, and tablet browsers. It covers the search box, the results page, the contact form, and any email subscription you sign up for. It does not cover data collected by other sites we link to, even if those sites appear inside a frame on our page.
Court records are public records under U.S. law. The act of searching for them still creates a digital trail. Your search query, your IP address, and your device details can reveal personal facts about you. We treat this digital trail with care. Our goal is to keep your search activity private from other users, advertisers, and data brokers who harvest court record retrieval patterns for profit.
Data We Collect From You
Search Query Data
When you type a name, a city, a state, or a case number into our search box, we collect that text. The search query you submit can have first names, last names, middle names, date of birth, case numbers, county names, and state names. We send this search query to our data partners. Our data partners run the actual search against official judicial records databases, public case records, court filings databases, and electronic court records systems used by clerks across the country.
We do not store your search query on our own servers after the search completes. We pass the search query to our partner. The partner returns the results. We show those results on your screen. Our partner may keep a copy of the search query for their own records. Their own privacy policy governs that data and any court record privacy policy they apply.
Personal Details You Submit
If you create a free account, sign up for email alerts, or fill out our contact form, we collect the personal details you submit. This can have your full name, your email address, your phone number, your mailing address, and your date of birth. We use these personal details to send you search results, case alerts, account notices, and customer support replies tied to your court case lookup activity.
You can use our search service without creating an account. Creating an account is optional. If you do not want us to keep your personal details, do not sign up for an account or alerts. You can run free court records search queries as a guest user with no account creation at all.
Automatic Device Data
Every time your browser loads one of our pages, our servers log basic device data. This automatic data collection happens on every site you visit on the internet. The data we log has the following items:
- Your IP address
- Your browser type and version
- Your device type and operating system
- Your screen resolution and language
- The page you came from (referrer URL)
- The pages you visit on our site
- The time you spend on each page
- The date and time of your visit
We use this automatic device data to spot bugs, fix broken pages, measure page speed, count visitors, and improve site navigation. We use this to block bots, scrapers, and abusive traffic that would otherwise overload our court case lookup servers.
Cookies and Tracking Files
Cookies are small text files that your browser stores on your device. We use cookies to remember your settings, to keep you logged in, and to measure how you use our site. We use two main types of cookies on our public court records search pages.
First-party cookies come from our domain. They remember your search filters, your language choice, and your login state. They expire when you log out or close your browser. They do not track you across other sites.
Third-party cookies come from our ad partners, analytics providers, and search partners. They track your activity across many sites to build a picture of your interests. You can block cookies in your browser settings. If you block cookies, parts of our site may not work as smoothly. Search results still load, but saved filters and login features may break during your court case lookup session.
How Court Records Data Differs From Regular Privacy Policies
The Public Records Nature of Court Files
Court records are public records in most U.S. states. State laws, federal laws, and court rules decide which court records the public can see. Civil case records, criminal case records, family court case files, probate court documents, traffic court case records, small claims court records, and appellate court records often appear in public indexes. Anyone can walk into a county courthouse and ask to see the docket sheet for a case involving any party.
Court record retrieval from a courthouse can be slow. You may need to drive to the clerk’s office, wait in line, pay a fee, and copy papers by hand. Online court records lookup exists to make this faster. Our service acts as a search layer that runs the same lookup against official sources or approved third-party sources for court case information.
The data we return to you is the same data the court clerk would hand you at the window. We do not add private facts about the people named in the case. We only show what the court already published on the public docket. Court record disclosure policy on the official site governs what we surface.
Sealed Records and Confidential Files
Some court records are sealed. A judge can seal a case to protect a child, a witness, a trade secret, or national security. Sealed court records do not appear in public indexes. Juvenile court records, adoption records, mental health commitment records, and certain family court case files are often sealed by state law. Sealed court records stay private even when an online court records lookup runs against public sources.
Our search service pulls only from public case records. We do not show sealed court records. We do not sell access to sealed records. If a record appears sealed in our results, that means the court itself has restricted public access. We do not unblock sealed records. Court record confidentiality rules apply to every court case lookup on our site.
Court record confidentiality rules can change by state, by county, and by case type. Some states seal records automatically. Other states require a court order. Our privacy policy does not override state sealing rules. Court record disclosure policy from the official court site remains the final word.
Court Order Restrictions
A court can issue an order that limits who can see a specific case file. These court order restrictions can apply to divorce records, abuse protection orders, and certain criminal court records. We honor all court order restrictions in our results. If a court has ruled that a case file is private, we treat that case file as private data in our public court records search results.
How We Use Your Data
We use the data we collect for these purposes tied to your court case lookup and public court records search activity:
- To run your court case lookup and return search results
- To pass your search query to our data partners
- To send you account notices and email alerts (if you signed up)
- To answer your customer support questions
- To detect fraud, bots, and abusive traffic
- To measure site speed, page load time, and traffic counts
- To fix bugs, broken links, and page errors
- To improve search accuracy and result quality
- To show ads that may match your interests
We do not use your data to build a credit report. We do not use your data to decide your eligibility for housing, jobs, or insurance. We do not sell your personal details to data brokers. Court record privacy policy on our site bars these uses.
Who We Share Data With
Court Records Search Partners
We pass your search query to court records search partners who run the actual lookup. These partners may have state court systems, federal court systems (such as PACER), county clerk offices, and licensed third-party data providers. Each partner has its own privacy policy. We choose partners that follow strong data security practices, but we cannot control how a partner uses data after the lookup returns during your public court records search session.
Government Agencies
We share data with government agencies when a court order, subpoena, or search warrant requires us to do so. We share data with law enforcement when a valid legal demand arrives. We review every legal demand to confirm it meets the legal standard. We push back on demands that look too broad or lack proper authority. Court record disclosure policy may force a share in narrow cases.
Analytics and Ad Networks
We share hashed, non-personal data with analytics services such as Google Analytics. These services tell us how many people visit each page, how long they stay, and which links they click. We share data with ad networks that show ads on our site. Ad networks may track your activity across the web over time to pick ads that match your interests. You can opt out of personalized ads through your browser or through industry opt-out pages.
Data Security Measures
We use industry-standard security measures to protect the data we collect. These measures have HTTPS encryption on every page, encrypted data storage, access logs, role-based access controls, and periodic security audits. We limit employee access to personal data. Only staff who need the data to do their job can read it. Court record privacy policy applies to every staff member with access.
No security system is perfect. We cannot promise that your data will never face a breach. If a breach occurs, we will notify affected users by email and post a notice on our site. We will follow state breach notification laws. We will work with law enforcement when a breach triggers a legal duty under court record disclosure policy.
Your Privacy Rights
Right to Access
You hold the right to ask what personal data we hold about you. You can submit an access request by email. We will reply within 30 days. We will give you a copy of the personal data we store, the source of the data, and the purpose of the data tied to your public court records search history.
Right to Delete
You hold the right to ask us to delete your personal data. We will honor your request unless we must keep the data to meet a legal duty, complete a transaction you asked for, or protect our legal rights. We will confirm the deletion by email once it completes. Court record privacy policy lets you remove your own data on request.
Right to Correct
You hold the right to ask us to correct wrong data we hold about you. Send us the correct data and the data that needs fixing. We will update our records within 30 days. We may reject correction of court record data that came from the official court source, since we cannot edit sealed or public court records.
State-Specific Privacy Rights
California residents hold rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). You can ask what categories of personal data we collect, what categories we share, and you can opt out of data sales. We do not sell personal data, so the right to opt out of sale does not apply in a meaningful way to our public court records search service.
Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, and Montana have similar privacy laws. Residents of those states hold the same access, delete, and correct rights listed above. We apply these rights no matter which state you live in.
European Union residents who visit our site hold rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We do not target EU users. If you live in the EU, you can still send an access or delete request tied to your court case lookup history.
Data Retention Policy
We keep search query logs for 90 days. We keep account data for as long as your account stays open. We keep support emails for 3 years. We keep billing data for 7 years to meet tax law. We delete or anonymize data on a rolling schedule once the retention period ends. Court record privacy policy on retention follows industry norms.
Children’s Privacy (Under 18)
Our site is not meant for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) bars the collection of data from children under 13 without parental consent. If you are a parent and you believe your child gave us data, contact us and we will delete it from our public court records search logs.
Third-Party Links and Services
Our site links to third-party services, ad networks, and analytics providers. Once you click a link that takes you off our domain, their privacy policy takes over. We suggest you read the privacy policy of every site you visit. We are not responsible for the data practices of other sites linked from our public court records search results pages.
Some of our advertising partners track your activity across many sites over time. They use this tracking to pick ads that match your interests. You can block this tracking through your browser’s privacy settings, through industry opt-out pages, or through ad blocker software. Court record privacy policy on our site ends once you leave our domain.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. State laws, federal laws, and court rules change. New data partners may join. We will post the updated version on this page and update the “Last Updated” date at the top. If the changes are material, we will email account holders a notice. Check back from time to time to stay current with our public court records search privacy rules.
Contact Information
If you have questions about this privacy policy, want to submit a data access request, or want to file a privacy complaint tied to your public court records search activity, contact us using the details below. We reply to every privacy request within 30 days. We do not charge a fee for basic access or delete requests tied to your court case lookup data.
Email: privacy@courtrecords.example.com
Phone: 1-800-555-0199
Mailing Address: 123 Main Street, Suite 400, Anytown, CA 90210
Business Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Frequently Asked Questions
Court records searches raise common questions about privacy, sealed cases, and data sharing. This FAQ section covers the most common questions we receive from users who run a public court records search or court case lookup on our site. Each answer pulls from our court record privacy policy and from current U.S. state and federal law on public records, sealed records, and electronic court records access.
Does searching for court records show my search history to other users?
No. Your search history stays private on your own device and on our internal logs. Other users cannot see what you searched for, what names you typed, or what case numbers you looked up during your court case lookup session. We do not publish a public list of recent searches. We do not share your search history with other users of the site. We do share search data with our data partners only to run the lookup, and with law enforcement only when a valid legal demand arrives tied to a sealed case or criminal investigation. Court record privacy policy on our site bars any other share of your search history with third parties, advertisers, or other users of our public court records search service.
Are court records searches legal for anyone to run?
Yes. Court records are public records in most U.S. states. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) limits the use of court record data for credit, employment, tenancy, or insurance decisions. You can search court records for personal, journalistic, genealogical, or legal research reasons on our site. You cannot use court record data to make decisions about credit, employment, housing, or insurance under the FCRA. State laws also limit how employers and landlords can use arrest records that did not lead to a conviction. Court record disclosure policy on the official court site remains the source of truth for what the public can see, and our public court records search service follows that same court record disclosure policy for every court case lookup query.
Can I opt out of having my own court case appear in search results?
It depends on the case type, the state, and the county. If your case is sealed, it will not appear in our results. If your case is open and public, it will appear in our results as it appears on the official docket. Some states allow expungement, which can remove a case from public view. You can file a motion to seal or expunge through a lawyer or through the court clerk’s office. Expungement takes time, costs money, and does not apply to every case type. Court record privacy policy on our site cannot override state sealing rules. Once a court grants a sealing or expungement order, our public court records search service will stop showing that case within 30 days of receiving the order through our partner feed.
Do you sell my data to data brokers or marketing lists?
No. We do not sell your personal data to data brokers, marketing lists, or third-party advertisers. We share data with ad networks for ad delivery during your public court records search session, but we do not sell raw personal data. Court record privacy policy on our site bars the sale of personal data. Ad networks may track your activity across the web over time, but they do not buy personal data from us. You can read more about this in the “Who We Share Data With” section above. We also do not buy personal data from data brokers to enrich the court case lookup results we return to you. Our results come only from official court sources and approved third-party data partners who follow court record disclosure policy.
How long do you keep my search history and account data?
We keep search query logs for 90 days. After 90 days, we anonymize or delete the logs. Account data stays as long as your account is open. Support emails stay for 3 years. Billing data stays for 7 years to meet tax law. You can ask us to delete your account data at any time by sending an email to the contact address listed above. Court record privacy policy on our site lets you remove your account data on request, unless we must keep the data to meet a legal duty, complete a transaction you asked for, or protect our legal rights tied to a sealed case or pending investigation. We confirm the deletion by email once it completes for your public court records search account.
What should I do if I find wrong data in a court record result?
Court record data comes straight from the official court source. If the data is wrong on the official docket, the court itself needs to fix it. Contact the court clerk for the county listed on the case. You may need to file a motion to correct the record through a lawyer or through the self-help center at the courthouse. We can only show the data the court has published. We cannot edit official court records from our public court records search service. Court record privacy policy and court record disclosure policy both block us from changing official data. Once the court updates the docket, our partner feed will pick up the fix within 30 days, and your next court case lookup on our site will show the corrected data.
Does this privacy policy apply to mobile apps and third-party integrations?
This privacy policy applies to our site only. If we release a mobile app in the future, a separate privacy policy will cover that app and will be linked from the app store page. Third-party integrations, such as social media share buttons and embedded videos, may collect data on their own. Their own privacy policies govern that data. Read the privacy policy of every third-party service you use before you click a share button on our public court records search results pages. Court record privacy policy on our site ends once data passes to a third-party widget. We choose third-party widgets that meet basic data security standards, but we cannot control how those widgets use data after they receive it from your browser during a court case lookup session.