County report card · Florida
Palm Beach County, Florida
County portal uses an access restriction which deters automated access but may be bypassed by determined actors
- Population
- 1,582,055
- Portal
- Assessor & Recorder
- Portal vendor
- Not identified
What the audit checked
Four low-cost protections every online records portal can have. How we rate counties.
- robots.txtYes — permissive
- Terms of useSilent on automation
- Bot challengeAccess denied to automated clients
- Owner notificationAvailable
Portal audited: www.pbcgov.org/PAPA/index.htm, www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/records/official-records, pbctax.publicaccessnow.com/PropertyTax.aspx, maps.co.palm-beach.fl.us/cwgis/papa.html
Doing well
- A notification system that alerts residents when their records are accessed
- Technical barriers (access_denied) that deter casual bulk access
Room to grow
- Expanding the robots.txt file to disallow automated scrapers
- Updating the Terms of Use to prohibit automated access
What to ask for
Three low-cost steps that have worked in other counties to close gaps like this one:
1. Adding clear robots.txt rules that disallow automated scrapers
2. Updating the Terms of Use to prohibit automated access
3. Implementing a notification system that alerts residents when their records are accessed
The full playbook is What Counties Can Do.