It's a cinch in this age of information to find anything you want to know on the internet, this includes public records and data on a huge number of people. By learning about the history of potential employees, friends, relatives or even yourself you're being fortified with knowledge that can be important in your personal or business life. It's completely legal to view public records and the accessibility of the internet, along with an explosion in the number of internet based people search companies, has made it extremely easy to find data such as addresses, relatives, former employment...etc. Knowing what your own results are in a people search engine can be just as important as information on others, especially if you're applying for a high grade job. You would certainly have a search done against your history for the company’s vetting process. Fortunately, performing a people search only takes a few minutes and is simpler than it's ever been before.

How Does an Online Search Engine Work?

People search engines collect data from different sources of public records, aggregating a profile for the person that you search for. The data is collected from open public records, which are usually court websites or other government records. Once you have the name of the person you want to search, simply find the people search engine of your choice and enter their information. Sometimes you will also be asked for a zip code or other key pieces of information, so be prepared to have these if you want accurate results. The results can range from general information like states lived in, to specific facts such as how much money the person makes a year. People searches are also anonymous. Remember that people search engines only compile the data that is available, if the data it compiles is not accurate then the search result will not be accurate. Overall a people search engine works like any other internet search engine, except it only extrapolates data from the specific person you've searched.

Vital Records Search

Documents such as marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, military casualty lists or divorce decrees are regarded as vital records. Vital records are often not available in the public sphere. In order to get vital records the local government branch where the document was filed must be contacted and the document requested, often for a fee. It is possible to request the document online or by mail. Vital records extend to the early 20th century and, just like the name suggests, are much more significant pieces of information than what can be found openly on the internet. Because these documents are used for statistical data collection by the U.S government, it's more likely that this information will be accurate. One service that is freely available is the U.S Federal Census Collection search which extends hundreds of years back to 1790.

Popular Search Resources

Enter the term "people search" into your internet search engine of choice and immediately you'll be presented with pages of different people search companies offering their services. Many of these are free, but some of them require payment to use. Whitepages is a popular source to find information on people. It also has other services such as reverse phone search and a background check service. Other sites like People Finders or Intelius are also good resources.

Spokeo is a people search engine that also crawls through social media sites to bring back more relevant information. Using one of these advanced people search engines brings back more data, but often costs money as well. It's good to compare many different sources to get more accurate data, so be sure to look at the results of several sites. Never feel like you can't get the important facts you need, let the people search engine be a tool that protects you from crime and arms you with knowledge.