I have to disagree. For sure, there is a lot stuff that is centralized at the federal level, but there is still a great deal of data managed at the county municipal level and there is a wide variety in how this data is managed (or not managed) and what format it is in. In the town where I live, they looked up my birth record (in order to provide me with an official birth certificate) in a large bound book. Most permits for construction are managed (at least in part) by the town, who knows where that data is stored. Hopefully most of it is submitted up to the state level.
