Nearly all the free phone books online gather their information from the same databases used by the regional phone companies as well as from public directories in the U.S. and in other countries. Some of them rely on self-reported information - the people listed submit and update their own listings.
The commercial people finders - sometimes called skiptracing tools - use a combination of different information resources to build profiles of individuals. Companies buy lists of information and all kinds of data from magazine companies, associations, and other groups, then pull them all together into easily searchable databases. They are not restricted to listed phone numbers, so through their many resources, they gather unpublished phone numbers along the way. For example, many use credit headers to get phone numbers.
Under U.S. law, companies are able to show you the header portion of credit reports, or identifying information, but are prohibited from selling you the personal financial information without the individual's permission. The header generally includes the consumer's name, address, age, year and date of birth, home telephone number, and previous address. Outside the U.S., credit information is rarely available, but it is gathered in many countries.
Not all fee-based specialty tools will be available to you. Some fee-based tools, like Choice- Point's AutoTrackXP Merlin, Accurint and others restrict access to this skiptracing information to safeguard you from harassment and violations of your privacy. For example, they may require that the researcher be in a particular profession such as law, insurance, law enforcement, or journalism, and can demonstrate a need for this particular information.
However, without much effort, a lot of your personal information can be purchased online for a price. Some companies cast wide nets to gather this information and often pick up personal information from warranty forms, contests, and registration forms which you may fill out without ever thinking that someone might use them to gather information about you.
Examples of specialized information available for sale include:
There are many other websites claiming to sell specialized information. For example, Techno- Max Pro advertises it will sell you software that will help you "Find out who that babe is driving that car" or "Find that girl you met in traffic or at the shopping center!" The site used to let you do this while listening to the website's version of the Mission Impossible theme, but now they have changed that and offer to "Find dirt on your boss" among their latest services.
Companies like Online Detective say they will sell the sources to obtain cell phone records, driver's license records, bank account records as well as Social Security Numbers, probation records, arrest records, criminal records, restraining orders, tax records, credit records, and records of being in a mental hospital. The original sources of this personal information, as well as the accuracy and legality of it, may all be questionable - so proceed with caution in this area of research.
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Webworldarticles.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
This article was sent to us by:
Kevin D. Tessler at
08282010
1. Become aware of Internet browsers and use the web in a creative way
All articles in this directory are property of their respective authors. Additionally, read our Privacy Policy
© 2010 WebWorldarticles.com - All Rights Reserved. Partners: Gunblade Saga