With the coming of the information age and the Internet, searching for people has become something that anyone with a computer and Internet connection can do. Free people search websites offer a certain amount of information for free based on search criteria when looking for people. Most sites, however, offer more in-depth or advanced search abilities for payment.
Privacy Concerns
Advocates of privacy rights have expressed many concerns as the free people search engines are able to glean more and more information from the Internet. Google has come under criticism for its cataloging of images from public streets, known as Google Street View. Other sites, such as ZabaSearch have come under scrutiny because of their ability to index supposedly private information such as unlisted telephone numbers. In both cases, Google and ZabaSearch have provided a way for consumers to opt-out of their program, preventing their information from being viewed online.
References
Fast Facts
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Millions of people have an online presence through social networking sites
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Police and private investigators use the Internet to search for people
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Name and address are commonly given away for free by people search companies
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Telephone numbers and more specific information usually incurs a premium cost
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Companies listed here offer some information for free on people searches
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Many searches result in multiple hits returned, leaving the searcher to decide which one fits best
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Premium reports may include detailed past history records of addresses and phone numbers as well
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E-mail addresses are hard to find via free people searches
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People search engines crawl the Internet for information specifically linked to names
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Some information reported may be outdated or incorrect altogether
