Background Research: Reliving the Past

Background Research is another integral part of a private investigators job. He is called upon often to find out as much information from the past as possible about a person or a company for many different reasons. For example, this could be background checks for employment purposes. Or this could be research about a potential business partner. In either case, the private investigator is hired to search the annals of the past and get as much scoop and as much dirt as he can find. Because of the internet, this process has become much, much easier.

A private investigator can, for a small fee, simply use a background check website to find vast sheets of information about a person or a business. He can search through state-wide criminal and civil records (New Hampshire, Vermont Maine, Massachusetts, etc.) and find out whether or not a person is a sex offender, has filed bankruptcy, has lead in his foot and gets speeding tickets, and more. He can find out previous addresses, family members and neighbors.

For a business, going to a website that assists with corporate research will provide information from public and private corporate files (both locally and globally), financial articles and reports, executive profiles and more. Also online, a private investigator can search a company’s assets, acquisitions and mergers, revealing how much property and possessions a company owns, and with whom they work.

You might be surprised at how quickly a private investigator has access to a person’s identity and past. Gone are the days of keeping secrets about oneself or remaining anonymous. Especially with the rise of Facebook, MySpace, Reunion.com and other networking sites, a person’s identity and location are only a click away. With a few websites and some skill, anyone can research a person’s social security number, telephone number, vehicle registration and club memberships. And they will even be able to find photographs.

Yet, even with the accessibility of all the information, a private investigator must be mindful of the law when performing background research. He must make sure that he follows local, state and federal privacy laws, as well as stay within his licensing geography. For example, Nickels Private Investigations is licensed has a broad geography to work with (Massachusetts up to Maine), but we cannot go outside of those states. Were we to do so, we would be breaking the law by investigating without a license. Once again, this is a benefit of performing background research online.

So with the expansion of the internet and with the rise of private information and disclosure acts, background research has become easier and easier. The past is no longer private anymore, but easily accessible online. Though we all would rather not relive it, it is there for researching. A private investigator just needs to know where to look.