In the “old” days when you were searching for consumer or personal information, it meant spending tedious hours digging through various books. Phone books, court records, newspapers and other documents were your only source for information in addition to interviews. t could take weeks, months, even years sometimes to find the “lost” person or find out information about someone.
Then along came the Internet and all this changed overnight. Now just type a name into a search engine and information pops up; so the search begins. Although there are some people who do not own or use computers, their name will still pop up at times. These people are a minority, most people are all over the Internet. They have emails, pay bills online, communicate through Facebook, Twitter, and have blogs. This gives any private investigator access to your digital footprint and access to information. Many people can also be found on YouTube, so not only do you get information, you also get video.
All of this social activity on the Internet creates less privacy. This may be good for an investigator but it is not good for one’s personal information. People now let the world know where they are going, how long they will be away, and they check in at various locations, and even give details of what they are doing or eating. On Facebook pages you can find birth dates, telephone numbers, and pictures – your life is now an open book. Numerous people even post pictures of their families and associates – welcome to the world of the Internet.
This Internet access is also appearing in legal documents. Many government agencies have databases available for searching. Through the Secretary of State’s office you can search for a business and find out location, officers and maybe much more. Many assessor offices have properties in a database giving a great deal of information. This information is considered public record and most is available free of charge.
Tim Wilson, an investigator in Houston, notes that what would take investigators weeks or months, now may take hours or less. But what has brought information to the forefront has also brought hindrances.
There are many new laws and regulations regarding who can see what information. Twenty or thirty years ago, you may have been able to get information just because you were curious or had contacts in various departments.
Today you have to have a person’s permission to get access to much of their information. Even though a database may be available, you may not have access to it. While anyone can see what a person posts to the various Internet places, most personal and financial information is unavailable. Most times it is up to an individual to decide who will be able to see what information.
In the past finding information on a person was fairly easy since most people never ventured far from their birthplace. Today, the younger generation is not as stable as their parents and grandparents. They change jobs often, move from apartment to apartment and city to city. The information may be available, it just may take a little longer to gather all of it. The footprint is available, but the road may be long and curvy.
When the Internet and databases were first beginning, no one thought much about what was being put out to the world. Now people have an option to opt out of sharing information and many are doing so.
Given the privacy laws, opting out availability, and database restrictions, private investigators are having difficulty finding some information. Much of this information may never be located.
To add to this, states and other entities now realize their databases may be a cash cow. What was once free or at minimal cost, now the cost has increased substantially. Cash strapped government agencies are using these databases as a supplement to budgets. The information is still public record and you can go to the courthouse and search for it, but if you want it easily it may cost.
What all of this means for a business is that they must stay current on the advances in technology. Now the average business owner have internet search skills to find trends in the market, which may show up in social media and various other places. By doing some good detective and sleuth work, businesses can take advantage of the abundance of information online, without having to be a private investigator.
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