In the inexorable push to place information within close reach, there are reasons to celebrate — and reasons to fret.

Since the advent of the Internet, the sharing of information has become an increasingly fluid process, and most people have come to expect that same ease wherever public information is concerned. Now the criminal justice system here has responded by creating electronic databases out of what were paper public files, and putting them online.

We’ve seen this with the launch of the sex-offenders registry and, most recently, the debut of two criminal databases, one of them a part of the larger Ehawaii.gov portal and one maintained by the Judiciary (see box).

It’s on balance a welcome development, especially considering that, not long ago, state agencies seemed bent on making documents harder and more expensive to get.

But there are sure to be growing pains here. At a time of mounting worry about the use of personal data for identity theft, citizens have the right to be concerned that their personal records are correct and not an easy target for thieves.

The state has provided some shields that lawmakers should examine this session.

For example, the eCrim database, maintained by the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, includes records on anyone who’s been arrested and booked for a crime. But casual Web lurkers could not retrieve anything without establishing an account, which requires a credit card.

Once in the system, a free search produces only a thumbnail sketch of an available record, providing name, date and a mug shot. The full report, which includes the more sensitive personal data, costs $13.
The Judiciary’s CourtConnect bank of traffic offenses is free to search but releases less sensitive information, excluding Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses and home telephone numbers. That’s a relief — assuming nothing has slipped through the cracks.

One particular challenge: Those who maintain these records must respond accurately and quickly to legitimate requests for corrections. Knowing how long requests can flounder in a bureaucracy, this could be the most worrisome point of all.