County report card · Illinois
Clinton County, Illinois
County portal uses an access restriction which deters automated access but may be bypassed by determined actors
- Population
- 37,087
- Portal
- Assessor & Recorder
- Portal vendor
- Fidlar Technologies
What the audit checked
Four low-cost protections every online records portal can have. How we rate counties.
- robots.txtYes — permissive
- Terms of useNot checked
- Bot challengeAccess denied to automated clients
- Owner notificationAvailable
Portal audited: il1206.cichosting.com/atasportal/, www.clintonco.illinois.gov/county-offices/county-clerk/, tapestry.fidlar.com, www.clintonco.illinois.gov/county-offices/treasurer/, portico.mygisonline.com/html5/?viewer=clintonil.bv1-p1
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
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.