Free Background Checks on People - You Can Get More Info Than You Think

I thought to myself, "Free background checks on people? Really?" but then I gave one a try and I was pretty stunned and disappointed to find out how much information was available on me for free. Given all the problems with identity theft and fraud, you would think our records would be kept at least modestly private. That is not the case.

Free background checks on people are available via public records databases but the results you get for the free searches are usually quite limited. No cost public records searches typically will turn up a person's name, address, phone number, age, and sometimes relatives such as mother, father and siblings.

These resources are really handy when you have a pretty good idea who you are looking for and have a few facts about them. When it comes to verifying information that even strays a little bit into the the grey area of private information such as social security number, mortgage and home information, or other personal or financial related data, availability of information clamps down quickly.

The next level of personal background data digs into the aforementioned basic financial data, date of birth, mortgage holder, neighbors, plus partial social security numbers and death records. These are not free background checks on people however as there typically is a small subscription fee attached. Again, these records are somewhat limited in their scope but are immediately available and certainly more revealing that I would prefer... particularly for so small a fee. These additional records are most likely pulled from local tax records and other publicly available documents. They aren't necessarily 100% accurate, but they're usually close enough... and again, much more than I prefer people to know about me.

The next step up in terms of personal investigation is the credit background investigation. At this point credit data is available but again, these are not free background checks on people either and furthermore privacy laws actually require prior written consent of the person whom you are investigating. A law called the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) severely restricts who can access these records, meaning usually a specific business purpose is required.

See some sample background checks on people and see just how much information is available for hardly any money, or try one of the free background checks on people to see how much information that sort of service provides.

Andreas Schmidt | http://www.legal-background-checks.com