The Best Way to ...
Dig Up Information on Someone

The Web Allows Just About Anybody to Play Private Eye

By Jennifer Saranow
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

When I arrived at Skipp Porteous's office to interview him, the first thing he said was, "You look like your picture." He also knew my birthday, my Social Security number, where I went to high school, my job, my work e-mail, my home address and my neighbors' names.

THIS MONTH'S COVER STORY: BEST OF THE WEB 2004

THE BEST WAY TO ... Find Something New On the Web Tired of Visiting the Same Sites Day After Day? Try These Strategies.

THE BEST WAY TO ... Dig Up Information On Someone The Web Allows Just About Anybody to Play Private Eye

THE BEST WAY TO ... Research A Consumer Product You Can Learn a Lot From Others, but Do Your Own Homework, Too

THE BEST WAY TO ... Use Your Broadband

Mr. Porteous, a private investigator who runs Sherlock Investigations, found all of this in less than an hour online. For him and many other investigators, the Internet has become an indispensable tool for digging up information about people. He estimates that as much as 75% of his job involves searching on the Internet.

And it's not just for professionals. Individuals also are using the Web to do background checks on friends and acquaintances. A recent research report found that about a third of Internet users have plugged a person's name into a search engine.

'One Lead to Another'

While most casual Internet users can satisfy their curiosity using Google or other search engines, expert researchers have at their fingertips a whole host of public and private databases, where they can find a frightening amount of detail about someone's background, financial condition and personal life. Some of the data, like Social Security numbers, are hard to find without access to special private-investigator and law-enforcement sites. And a lot of the information costs money. Still, a wealth of information is available free online. You just need to know where to look.

"We can usually get somebody's life story from the Internet," says Jim Parker, a private investigator. "It's a matter of getting lucky and developing leads and going from one lead to another."

Such accessibility has many people distressed. There have been legislative and legal attempts to restrict the availability of some information, such as court records and identifying information like Social Security numbers, according to Charles Davis, executive director of the Freedom of Information Center at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Even with all the resources at their disposal, expert researchers start at the same place as amateurs: online search engines such as Google, Ask Jeeves, or AlltheWeb, which they use to locate pictures, mentions of a person's name, occupations and details like states and addresses where someone has lived. There are tricks for helping to narrow a search. For instance, if someone has a common name, search the first and last names in quotation marks, with other identifying features such as city and occupation also within quotes. Experts also recommend using multiple search engines.

Beyond search engines, public records found online-including property listings, personal vital statistics and court cases-are among the best resources. But getting at them, in most cases, requires finding the Web site of the particular state or county where the records reside. And that could be time-consuming. To save time on such searches, many investigative companies have created portals with links to public-records databases. And some are free. One of the best is SearchSystems.net. The site links to more than 15,000 searchable public-records databases. Visitors can search records available nationally or by state, or can use the site's "public record locator" feature to find a particular type of database in a specific location.

People who know exactly what kind of information they want about someone may be better off using more-focused portals.

Researchers like real-estate records because they can give you loads of information-from how much a home is worth, to a picture of a neighborhood where someone is from. Paul Grabowicz, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley journalism school, recommends the site of NETR Real Estate Research & Information site (netronline.com/public_records.htm) as the best starting point. The site offers a portal of real-estate databases online, accessible by clicking on the state and then the county wanted.

Political activity also provides a rich source of information. Mr. Porteous recommends MelissaData.com, run by a company that checks and updates postal mailing lists. By entering a ZIP code on the site's "Campaign contributions" section, you can get a list of everyone in the neighborhood who has donated. In some cases, the data also include the name of the contributor's employer, and his or her occupation.

'Be Very, Very Careful'

If you know what someone does for a living, you can check out specific portals for that occupation. For researching lawyers, Alan Schlein, who trains businesspeople to efficiently use the Internet, recommends Martindale.com. For corporations in general, experts like the Securities and Exchange Commission site (www.sec.gov), "a motherlode of information" on top officers and key players in public companies, Mr. Schlein says.

The online database of Hoover's Inc. provides information on about 12 million companies, including salaries of top executives and board members when available, accessible to individuals for $49.95 a month. LexisNexis.com has public election records that can provide salary information of elected officials. The service also allows individuals to access newspaper articles and public records for about $1 to $9, though many libraries offer it free.

People should keep a few cautions in mind before beginning any search. Because even the most seemingly uncommon names are common, it's important to make sure the information found in databases refers to the right person. "Who wants to accuse their boyfriend of being a child molester when there are so many people with the same name out there?" says Mr. Parker. "Unfortunately, people go out there and believe they are Sherlock Holmes and believe everything they read on the Internet."

Beyond that, It's also a good idea to check the accuracy of the sites you are using. The best way? Do a search on yourself.

Do you think online access to information about people should be restricted or expanded? Write to us