Lawyers warned against using Recap

[late_rabbit]

I feel I already know the answer but need to ask the question:

Does anyone have experience with Recap or issues raised by lawyers
using it in connection with the Pacer service?

Here's the link to the "Recap the law" Firefox add-on.

https://www.recapthelaw.org/

And a memo went out to lawyers serving on the Criminal Justice Act
Panel that seemed to caution against using it.

I uninstalled mine.

[lunaz]

I haven't installed it yet, but wondered about whether or this is ok
to use. Do you have a copy of the memo? Not sure if OK to ask about
that here.

[George Milliken]

Can you tell me what recap is and what the issue with it is? I went
to the page and checked it out, if I understand correctly it is a
search tool for searching public documents?

Can anyone use it?

Does it require an underlying paid subscription to a service?

Why is it recommended not to use this?

Thanks,

George Milliken

[late_rabbit]

Here's the memo:

***

Attachment
SAMPLE NOTICE FOR PACER FEE-EXEMPT USERS
The court would like to remind fee-exempt PACER users of the terms of
the exemption and of
potential issues associated with a new software application called
RECAP. It was designed by a
group from Princeton University to enable the sharing of court
documents on the Internet. Once
a user loads RECAP, documents that he or she subsequently accesses via
PACER are
automatically sent to a public Internet repository. Other RECAP/PACER
users are then able to
see whether documents are available from the Internet repository.
A fee exemption applies only for limited purposes. Any transfer of
data obtained as the result
of a fee exemption is prohibited unless expressly authorized by the
court. Therefore, fee-
exempt PACER users must refrain from the use of RECAP.
The prohibition on transfer of information received without fee is not
intended to bar a quote or
reference to information received as a result of a fee exemption in a
scholarly or other similar
work.
SAMPLE NOTICE FOR CM/ECF FILERS
The court would like to make CM/ECF filers aware of certain security
concerns relating to a
software application or “plug-in” called RECAP, which was designed by
a group from Princeton
University to enable the sharing of court documents on the Internet.
Once a user loads RECAP, documents that he or she subsequently
accesses via PACER are
automatically sent to a public Internet repository. Other RECAP/PACER
users are then able to
see whether documents are available from the Internet repository.
RECAP captures District and
Bankruptcy Court documents, but has not yet incorporated Appellate
Court functionality. At this
time, RECAP does not appear to provide users with access to restricted
or sealed documents.
Please be aware that RECAP is "open-source" software, which can be
freely obtained by anyone
with Internet access and modified for benign or malicious purposes,
such as facilitating
unauthorized access to restricted or sealed documents. Accordingly, CM/
ECF filers are
reminded to be diligent about their computer security practices to
ensure that documents are not
inadvertently shared or compromised.
The court and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts will
continue to analyze the
implications of RECAP or related-software and advise you of any
ongoing or further concerns.

***

[George Milliken]

Thanks. I get it now.

George