untangling_the_web

DOCID: 4046925
UNCLASSIFIED,I,'~QRQ~~IGIALI:ISE ONLY
Research How..Tos
Finding People
While searching for people remains one of the most popular and important Internet
research projects, it also continues to be one of the most frustrating. It is also one of
the most lucrative for businesses-legitimate, shady, or simply incompetent. Sites
that claim "you can find anyone, anywhere!" are all over the web. Try running a
search for the phrase "search for people" and you are likely to find these categories
of results, each of which has its drawbacks and most of which are so limited in some
way as to be useless except under special circumstances:
~ pay services provided by individuals or companies (everything from sleazy to
legitimate PI services)
~ for-fee software ("net detective"-type software)
~ free software (this probably is a case of "you get what you pay for")
~ links to a gazillion "people finder" websites
It all boils down to this: there are three basic types of information on the Internet
useful in searching for people:
1. information you must pay for
2. information you must register to get
3. information that is free
While it is true you may have to pay for help and/or information either to find a
person or to retrieve information about a person, it isn't always a case of "you get
what you pay for" with people searches. People are actually selling books with
bloated claims and largely useless tips on looking for people. Most of this so-called
"expert" advice is worthless. If you have searched for people on the Internet, you've
probably encountered some or all of the suggestions, claims, offers, and outright
scams from people claiming to help you find someone using the Internet. Many sites
will gladly take your money to search for people. Some of these are legitimate
companies with access to huge databases containing a great deal of personal
information. Some of these for-profit companies give you nothing more than a list of
web links that in turn may only lead you to a 404 error. In many, many cases, you
end up paying for information that was freely available elsewhere on the web!
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