Looking for unusual types of assets? Search the Canadian Stallion Directory for pedigree horses by the first initial of the owner or farm.

Ancestors On Board is a database of ship passengers traveling from the British Isles from the years 1890 through 1960. Search by name, port or country.

With ancestorsonboard, you can search for records of individuals or groups of people leaving for destinations including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and USA featuring ports such as Boston, Philadelphia and New York. Passengers include not only immigrants and emigrants, but also businessmen, diplomats and tourists.

Canadian private investigator, Kevin D. Bousquet has an extensive analysis of the detrimental effects of privacy regulation on the public and the everyday work of attorneys. [Thanks: Ca Privacy Law]

The public is in panic over crimes like impersonation, bank fraud, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud all things the private sector investigates every single day. They are the answer to the problem not the cause. All of the tools that hold personal data are needed to investigate but are slowly cutting off the private sector slowly over time.

In Provinces like Quebec and Alberta, PI’s have no access to government motor vehicle information. They can’t even run a license plate to follow an insurance claimant or a driver’s record to see previous driving infractions.

How are we expected to do insurance claim investigation if we have no access to vehicle or driver information? How is a PI supposed to help a person enforce a judgment or child support order when for the most part credit bureaus make it virtually impossible for PIs to have access even if they have a certified copy of a Judgment or Support Order?

The legal is community is in big trouble they just haven’t realized it yet. Sooner or later would be Plaintiffs and the general public are going to realize that when they sue in court attempting to recover their losses even if they win their case if defendant simply refuses to pay there is every likelihood their court ordered judgment or monetary award could be nothing more then a worthless piece of paper.

CBC News is reporting that Michael Robinson, a Saskatoon private investigator has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $20,000 fine for unlawfully accessing a police computer system at the Balcarres RCMP detachment.

It seems that this is not the first time Mr. Robinson or his investigative agancy has been the focus of Canadian officials. Four years ago, Robinson’s firm, Robinson Investigations, was at the centre of an extensive privacy investigation involving police and several government departments. Six government and Crown workers were suspended following the probe.

OpentheGovernment.org lists several new reports released by open government organizations. The National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) report, Federal Controls on State Information Disclosure:FERPA, HIPAA and DPPA, addresses “barriers to state records that federal legislation erects.”

Also, go to The National Freedom of Information Coalition site for a 50 state resource guide to state public information access laws, FOI advocates, publications and form letters for public record requests. Follow the links at each state site to reach the state organizations that advocate for open records.

The Idaho page has a link to the Idaho Press Club, Open Records Information page, a digest of relevant state laws in a question and answer format. The state page for Iowa lists the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which cites the state laws on public access to government information but also has explanatory notes. The Iowa Association of Private Investigators is among this organization’s sustaining members, setting an example that all private investigator professional groups should follow with their state Freedom of Information advocates.

The Canadian Newspaper Association recently released its Freedom of Information Audit on the response of federal, municipal and provincial governments to public information requests.

The Ontario Provincial Police Web site houses the Missing Persons and Unidentified Bodies/Remains database, which is searchable by blocks of years. The Unidentified Persons database is a collection of photographs. The Missing Persons List includes images and personal information. It is organized by date but doesn’t appear to be searchable by name.