Quite often people wonder if there is a way they could find somewhere social security numbers of other people. The very first
thing to know and realize, though, is that generally it is illegal to undertake a search for ssn's in order to use them for any
purpose different from uses that are defined by law. You can't do that unless you have authorization from a court, government
agency etc. where you work as employee or agent who is entitled to perform background check screening against crime
databases, verify personal identity of people etc. This is what a private individual may be sued for in a court, if done. In part, it
is prohibited to publish on the Internet the social security numbers you unintentionally may have got a hold of while surfing on
the Internet or using web based resources granting access to public records - often for a nominal fee, which means practically
any Internet user can afford using them.
Some states, like Indiana, have enacted or are going to enact progressive laws with provisions even against some of the
existing governmental uses of Social Security Numbers for certain purposes. Still, just a few years ago, before the stricter
measures were taken, many Social Security Numbers kept appearing on Sex Offend Registry websites and websites of
Universities, thus provoking identity theft related crimes and other illegitimate uses of Social Security Numbers.
The situation at some moment took such serious turn that many states, such as Arizona, Colorado, New York, Rhode Island,
Wisconsin, Washington, and West Virginia, adopted special laws banning public universities and colleges from using SSN's as
student ID's. Similar restrictions also are regarded by other states in effort to set up more barriers and introducing more
advanced preventive measures aimed to protect individuals from ever growing number of identity thefts, as well as to further
enforce some of the provisions of the Privacy Protection Act. Still measures did not stop immediately this sort of information
leakage, specifically if you look into:
Mortgage records (temporary conditional pledges of property to a creditor as security against a debt)
Real property transfer records (land conveyance files, such as deeds and mortgages, normally held in county clerks' offices)
Real or personal property lien records, i.e. documents confirming someone's right to take the property if an obligation is not
discharged
Real property ownership records (normally maintained by county clerk office)
Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) filings
Federal or state tax liens
Records of judgments and orders as well as those related to civil proceedings or criminal proceedings (e.g., pleadings, filings,
rulings)
Probate, estate, inheritance, as well as child support or custody records
Traffic records (crash, DWI or DUI, citations) that may be in disposal of motor vehicle departments, departments of
transportation, courts, law enforcement agencies and other related institutions
Military Discharge Records
Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
The above are just some of the public records available either off or on line that still can contain full or partial social security
numbers, even if normally they are being redacted or truncated (shortened to display fewer digits) before being transferred to
the public domain meaning they can be accessed and viewed over the Internet by just about anyone with a computer.
C. Dyson is a contributing writer for several Internet resources offering helpful online public records links for general public, as
well as for professionally focused PI Directory for private investigators that contains lots of information on different aspects of
running a background check, crime prevention issues, case studies, stories for discussion etc. coming from PI's specializing in
different fields. PI's and Private Detectives can use this great resource to post their profile with a free link to Private
Investigations business they operate in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia, or generally anywhere in the world.
Labels: Public Records