| Learn about what important information can be | | | | easier accessibility directly and publicly through the |
| uncovered within many US public records. | | | | internet. The internet is finally allowing public records |
| Most of you reading this probably have no clue what | | | | to be more public so anyone, including you, can |
| is "publicly available" about you to anyone that is | | | | uncover information about any person or company. |
| interested in doing some simple research. The | | | | Personal information isn't always as private as one |
| internet holds unlimited access to what governments | | | | may think. Generally speaking, your date of birth, |
| consider public records. Governments you ask? Yes, | | | | social security number, financial, insurance, and medical |
| this means not just the United States, but also many | | | | information is protected by law. Companies and |
| records for Mexican and Canadian. As more countries | | | | corporations also have similar protection. |
| become technologically advanced, more information | | | | Unfortunately, research into public records can |
| will be readily available for anyone to research at will. | | | | commonly reveal these items through background |
| Currently, within the United States, anyone with | | | | checks, court records, divorce records, bankruptcy |
| internet access and a little information about you can | | | | files and many other sources of readily available |
| divulge the following information about you: | | | | information. |
| - Real Estate Ownership | | | | Although many people may have privacy concerns, all |
| - Traffic Tickets | | | | of these records have been made public for |
| - Conviction Records | | | | important reasons. For example, detailed background |
| - Criminal Arrest Records | | | | checks are necessary for the security of the general |
| - Arrest Warrants | | | | public and business security. You wouldn't want |
| - Case Indexes | | | | someone watching your child at a local day care that |
| - Civil Court Recordings | | | | has a warrant out for their arrest or has past criminal |
| - Professional and Business Licenses | | | | records would you? Perhaps you are a proud owner |
| - Motor Vehicle Records | | | | of a limousine business. It could be devastating is it is |
| - Registered Voter Files | | | | later revealed that a driver you hired has multiple DUI |
| - Court Files | | | | charges on his or her record. |
| - Property Tax Assessor Files | | | | Just as people do with credit reports, I would |
| - Tax Liens and Judgments | | | | recommend that you research yourself. You may be |
| - Bankruptcy Files | | | | surprised with the information that is available to |
| - And Much More | | | | anyone interested in looking into it. In the past I have |
| There was a time where many of these records | | | | seen someone lose their job because they were |
| were trade secrets of private investigators but now | | | | unaware of a charge on their record and didn't |
| they can be easily uncovered through simple online | | | | disclose it on his hiring application. Simple mistakes like |
| searches. Our government has and continues to | | | | this can be prevented or corrected before they |
| convert these public records into digital format for | | | | become a problem. |