A Virginia district judge has ruled that a new state law barring online posting of Social Security numbers is unconstitutional in the case of a privacy advocate’s current and past online postings, repeatedly citing the General Assembly’s shortcomings as a factor in his ruling.

B.J. Ostergren has posted public documents containing Social Security numbers — some of prominent political figures — on her Web site to demonstrate the relative ease with which anyone can access such private information in the state.