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Abstract: 

Domestic violence survivors face several privacy threats from public court records. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) sets minimum privacy requirements for domestic violence court records, but these minimums do not address the panoply of privacy harms that flow from public court records. The principles of Fair Information Practices are a well established expression of the minimum interests that have guided information privacy policy for over 30 years. Court record policies should, at a minimum, meet VAWA’s requirements and implement well established principles of Fair Information Practices. The Electronic Privacy Information Center and several members of the domestic violence bar made specific recommendations along these lines to the District of Columbia Superior Court. Those comments contain more detailed analysis of the issues and recommendations in this article. The article contains recommendations for adherence to principles of VAWA.

Keywords: VAWA Prohibits the Internet Publication of Key Protection Order Information

Affiliations:  1: American Bar Association Commission on Domestic Violence.