Facebook and social networks have quickly become some of the best background research tools on the internet. They are not only used by individuals, but employers, colleges, and other entities. Over the years, people become both more concerned with privacy rights, and more public about their personal lives. But shouldn't we consider being more private about our personal lives and more public about our privacy rights?
Facebook is pretty clear that you are giving up most of your rights to privacy when you sign up, and that anything you post (including personal pictures) allows Facebook the publishing rights to reuse? Your personal information is no longer personal, the rights to it are owned by Facebook. This means that even if you delete something, Facebook retained the rights to it for up to seven years! There are many background check companies that have decided to take advantage of this information, and sell it within your personal background check records...
Interested in seeing what you can find in your social network background? There are a number of services that will show you what a potential employer or school may see, but that may also depend on the service used, as well as how far back their records date. TransparentMe is a service that is accessible through Facebook, and currently provides the social background check for around $20. Reppify is another service promoting background checks to employers, and states that their background checks include information from Twitter, Facebook, GitHub, and LinkedIn. Another company, Social Intelligence, is offering "Social media screening and research".
While most people complain about their privacy rights, they continue to post their personal lives on social networking sites almost universally. The few who have refused to participate in the usage of the most popular social networks are somewhat criticized for being behind in the technological world, rather than learning anything about how to protect their privacy. There's an old saying about what people know about you: "People only know what you tell them." Sounds like a good rule of thumb to me...
Friday, July 13, 2012
Personal Lives, Social Networking, and Privacy Rights
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Accessing U.S. Court Records and Public Documents
If you're in need of public records or court documents, there are a few different routes you can take. Whether you need marriage records, birth or death certificates, court dockets, case files, records of adoptions or probate, and even judicial orders, many can be obtained through the internet, written request, telephone or in person. Knowing where to go is half the battle.
You'll need the name or names on the court documents. If you have both parties of court records, you'll have a much better chance at obtaining the correct documents. Along with any names involved, your search can be defined by knowing the document type, a court records number or case number, city, county, and state in which the records are located.
You can check for court records directly from the court, either through the court's website, or telephone, or even by mailing in a specific request, containing ALL of the court document information. Sometimes when ordering copies of documents, there may be small fees such as copy fees, or document fees. If you are mailing a request, should contact the court by telephone to find out about the specific documents you need, and the fees - if any. Online there may also be a per-page fee, and can often be purchased securely with a credit card on the website.
You can also access federal and Supreme Court documents through the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts PACER Service Center. There website requires a membership, but has a very extensive database. Justia is another highly useful website, created to search for federal district court documents.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
A Free Search Tip for 2008
One of the quickest and easiest ways to find someone for free online is to use the free features on two particular sites. Head on over to the free "people search" page of PeopleFinders, and enter your search criteria. Once you have your basic information (you won't get the address or phone number through this search), you should then take the most recent city and state of the person you just searched for and head over to Zaba Search. Enter the name and state of the person, and compare the search results with the results from PeopleFinders.
Using this simple method, you should be able to locate most people. However, there are some instances where a person is not listed, or does not have any current information available due to instability. It is a good place to start no matter who you're looking for, because you can get previous addresses that may help you with future research.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
How Easy Would it be to Find You?
Okay, so many people have thought about how to go about finding people, but how would someone go about finding you? Have you ever done a vanity search on Google using your own name? It’s very interesting what you can find on yourself just by doing a search on your name. The interesting part is when you try to find yourself by 
not using your name. This is probably a very new concept to quite a few people. Vanity searches are becoming more popular as people realize just how much information is available on the web, not only on others – but on themselves. Your identity is sensitive, but some personal information is easily accessed through online search engines and databases.
Try typing your phone number into Google, Yahoo, or another search engine. I recommend using Google, since it is the most widely used, and probably the search engine that most sites try to get their website indexed within. Try a previous phone number, or one of your past addresses – even your current address. You may be surprised. For some people, they will come up with nothing. Others may find that the search results return a huge number of hits that are an exact match for your identity.
ZabaSearch is a great testing medium, as it is free, and produces a fantastic amount of information on people. Type in your name and see what you come up with. Be aware though, for many people this can be extremely shocking and worrisome, as the search results are incredibly thorough and revealing. It has created quite a bit of controversy among identity theft prevention activists, which is understandable. Most people are unaware of how easy their information can be pulled up on the internet, for free.
This information is gathered into online databases through public records, information sold through advertisers, and opt-in email systems. Also, when you move, if you submit a change of address through the postal service, your information may be sold or provided to others legally. This is common practice, as businesses build their contacts lists, mailing lists, and “safe” email lists.
If a person was to try to find you through a search company, such as PeopleFinders or ZabaSearch, you would turn up in the records due to this buying and selling of personal information that commonly occurs. Try a few different websites, and see how easy you are to find. Perhaps you want to make yourself more available if you have people who you know are interested in finding you. On the other hand, for some people – this information can be nerve wracking if you don’t want to be found. People who have been in abusive situations may want to find out how easy they can be found in order to protect themselves, and the internet is a great place to start. Finding out how easy you are to find can really open your eyes, and cause you to see things in a whole new way, and find ways to protect your sensitive information!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
ZabaSearch.com - Website Review
ZabaSearch was launched in 2005 by Nicholas Matzorkis, the founder of US Search. After a childhood experience, where young Nick Matzorkis traveled to Greece with his family to reunite with family members which they lost contact with after moving to the United States. Whereas US Search was the first company to bring people locating services to the public at an affordable rate, ZabaSearch is the first company to provide search results for absolutely free.
The website is easy to use, just type in the name you are looking for, and your results are returned in a quick, search engine-like manner. Of course there is the option of pulling up additional information for a small cost, most of the information you would be looking for will turn up in the free results.
Because ZabaSearch is providing such personal information in their free searches, the company has recently become the target of privacy activists and media coverage related to a recent surge in identity theft, even though the company remains innocent of any negative actions. But it isn’t just the general public who uses ZabaSearch, and the company provides services to news agencies, business and real estate professionals, and the government as well. According to Matzorkis, “Government use is over 20 percent. Military is 12 to 13 percent. Department of Homeland Security is around 1 percent of the government portion. Media and news agencies is about 2 to 3 percent.”
Friday, March 16, 2007
Searching for People Using Public Records Online
As we make our journey through life, we sign many documents of various types that become public records. These documents are filed typically by the counties in which transactions took place. In larger counties, there are smaller local regional branches that you can walk into and purchase copies of documents within the public records files. This can be any publicly recorded documents, such as real estate transactions, court records, marriage records, birth certificates, and death records. For a small fee, the county recorder can provide copies of certain records to the purchaser. Obtaining or purchasing the public records is not actually the most difficult part of searching for people, the hard part is finding out where the records are located.
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genealogy, history, people, people search, public records, reunions
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Obtaining Marriage Records Online
You don’t have to travel to the county that the bride and groom tied the knot, or search out directions to the courthouse. In fact, with enough information at hand, you won’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home because many counties actually offer the information online. There are also quite a few websites that can obtain the records for you. But a few key pieces of information might be necessary if you want to make sure that you get the right 
records. The county where the bride and groom were married is essential in most cases, in order to prevent incorrect results to your search. You would be surprised how many marriage records are similar to yours if you have a common name. There may be a few databases that can search for records in all counties and states, but most of the time you will need a county and state to find the correct records. If you don’t want to purchase over the internet, you can also locate the county records office online, and then send payment and order the records directly from the county. In this case, you will definitely need the names of both the groom and the bride, including the maiden name.
Public records are available right over the internet, but with so many similar names, it’s best to gather as much of the information necessary to distinguish the bride and groom from similarly named people. Jane (who’s maiden name is Smith) marries Bob Johnson and Susan is searching for Jane Johnson. To find the marriage records, Susan would need to know Jane’s maiden name is Smith. The name of the county is necessary in order to purchase the online records. However, if Susan performs a people search on Bob Johnson, a comprehensive report should show that he married Jane, and that her family members all share the common name Smith. Then Susan can order the marriage records with Jane Smith listed as the bride, and Bob Johnson listed as the groom.
The same method can be used when searching for a woman you have lost touch with over the years, because there is a strong possibility that her name has changed over the years. Women can sometimes be the hardest to track once they have been married, so if you only have the groom’s name, this could prove to be a very difficult search. In fact, you may actually need the bride’s maiden name to track down the correct bride and groom. This issue can become quite interesting if the bride has married more than once. In some cases, the woman may opt to keep her married name after a divorce, so knowing which last name she would use on her next marriage certificate can be tough as well. In other cases, the divorce records could mandate that the woman revert to her maiden name after the divorce has been finalized. When you come across a stumbling block, try a different route. If one way doesn’t work, try something else. Don’t frustrate yourself by trying the same thing, hoping for different results.
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genealogy, people search, public records, women
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Using US Newspapers in Genealogical Research
READ MORE - Original Article can be found HERE.
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Thursday, January 25, 2007
Researching and Obtaining Public Records
What Type of Information Do I Need?
If you want to go down to the county recorders office and get a copy of the marriage record for John and Mary Johnson, you would first need to know in what county the license was filed. Without knowing that information, you would have a harder time obtaining the records. What county were they married in, and better yet, what 
city and the year? You will need to know Mary’s maiden name as well, it’s a little more difficult if you only know that Jane’s last name is Johnson because she married John. The ideal amount of information to have would be: Mary Jane and John Johnson married on June 1, 1985 in Los Angeles County, in Norwalk. Their marriage records would be filed in Norwalk, at the County Recorders Office. If they were married in a smaller area, you could just go straight to the county office.
If you are looking for general information, then you can also perform a search online with much less information. That type of search will then return more information than you have, and with the added information you can find the answers you are looking for. So depending on where you live, who you are looking for, and where the records you are seeking are located, it is often cheaper to just get public records online.
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marriage, people search, public records
Monday, December 18, 2006
Background Checks Could Offer Protection When Dating Online
If you’ve ever struggled with whether to do a background check on the person you’ve met online, you’re not alone. Millions of Americans are single, and you no longer need to leave your comfort zone to find a date. People are meeting in chat rooms, through online date matching services, and classified listings. Sending pictures through email seems like a great idea, until you’re the recipient of a picture of what your date wishes they look like, instead of what they really look like. You may also find that there are married people using the internet to find affairs without being seen around town, and keeping you unaware of their marital status.
Generally speaking, if you meet a person in a traditional dating scene such as a bar, club, bowling alley, or a dog park (yes, it happens), people can give us different feelings, right off-the-bat. The guy who walks up to a woman and feeds her a cheesy line has probably been doing it all night, and still no success. Some people may give you the warm-fuzzies, while others just plain give you the creeps. These are signs we can only see (or feel) in person. People can write anything online about themselves, and yet reading those words on the screen gives us a sense of having gotten to know a person through their words. The fact of the matter is, most people – even honest people – tend to hold back things that embarrass them. We candy-coat the truth, sweep secrets under the carpet, and stuff the closet with skeletons when we describe ourselves online.
With meeting people over the internet, we lose the ability to establish a first impression. Worse yet, our first face-to-face meeting could be tainted by information that was fed to us without facial expressions, body language, or even a “vibe” we get from people when we talk in person. This can distort a person’s view of who they are meeting, and our mind tries to match up everything we think we know about the person with the face we are seeing. We complain if our mother sets us up with a blind date, yet we have no qualms about setting ourselves up on them. Sometimes this unawareness sets us up for identity theft, among other potential dating dangers.
On the internet, we can hide behind a façade that we create; perhaps making ourselves out to be the person we wish we were. The person on the other end of the chat is most likely doing the same thing, although they have the unique opportunity to become the person you want them to be. Sometimes we are trying so hard not judge people in a bad way, and we forget not to judge people in a good way either. Just look at how many people are getting their selves into a bad situation because they trusted someone, thinking they were a good person. We can’t automatically assume that someone is a “good person”, yet it’s a mistake almost all of us make. If you think that doing a background check on a potential dating partner is wrong, think again. When you meet a person online, just as when you meet them in person, they could be hiding anything.
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background checks, ID theft, identity protection, online dating, people, safety
