Private Investigator Public Records Internet Search Privacy Reporting - PI Buzz http://pibuzz.com Private Investigator | Public Records | Internet Search | Privacy | Reporting | Personal Information | Adoption | Genealogy | Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:48:17 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 California Bell tolls, but not much http://pibuzz.com/2010/08/19/california-bell-tolls-but-not-much/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/08/19/california-bell-tolls-but-not-much/#comments Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:48:17 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=2073 The proposed California Senate Bill 501, “Local government: compensation disclosure”, isn’t an earth-shattering transparency measure. Particularly in light of the Bell city government pay debacle.

The measure would require officers and designated employees to annually file a compensation disclosure form listing their salary and non monetary benefits. I thought the payroll department knew these figures. It seems odd that the employee is providing this. And anyway, what’s a “designated employee”?

“Designated employee” means a designated employee of a county, city, city and county, school district, special district, or joint
powers agency formed pursuant to the Joint Exercise of Powers Act
(Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 6500) of Division 7 of Title 1)
who is required to file a statement of economic interests pursuant to
Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 87100) of Title 9.

Get it? Not every employee must file the disclosure form, just the same people who are required to file a Form 700, Statement of Economic Interests. According to the California Fair Political Practices Commission that is “certain state and local elected officials, judges, high level state employees, and certain employees for the assembly and senate.”

Since the names, job classifications, salary, compensation and retirement benefits of every local and state government employee in California are a public record why aren’t they all online? In fact, this almost never happens. Hermosa Beach may be the only California municipality to post names and salaries of all employees. Trawl through these links for starters.

Just as we have seen a scramble by California local governments to claim the moral high ground by posting salary schedules (post Bell, no workers’ names) on their websites, the same sites may come down if they balk at the bill’s mandate:

If the county, city, city and county, school district, special district, or joint powers agency maintains an Internet Web site, it shall post the information contained on the filed compensation disclosure form on that Internet Web site.

Otherwise, it’s back to fighting the local agencies, and paying the designated fees!

]]> http://pibuzz.com/2010/08/19/california-bell-tolls-but-not-much/feed/ 0 Private Investigator Research Links – July 17 – July 31 http://pibuzz.com/2010/08/01/private-investigator-research-links-july-17-july-31/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/08/01/private-investigator-research-links-july-17-july-31/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 07:04:01 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1971

  • Website Information, Analysis & Research Tool

    "Find out how good a site is. Get comprehensive website details. Discover competitors.\n\nSee people, traffic data, similar sites, social comments, description, social popularity and much more about websites" Identifies executives for public companies.

  • How Facebook Can Make or Break Your Case

    Legal strategies and necessities.

  • Internet Service Provider List

    "site and ISP list is for law enforcement use and contains a variety of ISPs and similar information services, specifically, contacts at the legal departments for law enforcement service of subpoena, court orders, and search warrants."

  • ICE Online Detainee Locator System

    "Locate a detainee who is currently in ICE custody, or who was released from ICE custody for any reason within the last 60 days."

  • Companies, Executives – news and profiles

     

  • Reviews and profiles of companies

    Salary and compensation and employee reviews for some companies.

  • Intelligence on directors, executives, and their relationships

    "executive and board member biographical information" Shows interlocking directors. Fee service with free trial.

    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/08/01/private-investigator-research-links-july-17-july-31/feed/ 3     ICE Online Detainee Locator System searchable database http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/25/ice-online-detainee-locator-system-searchable-database/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/25/ice-online-detainee-locator-system-searchable-database/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:31:51 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1962 The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Online Detainee Locator System is now active. This is a searchable database that enables you to locate a detainee who is currently in ICE custody. Search by name with country of birth or by A-Number. Returns full name and year of birth and whether they have been in ICE custody in the past 60 days.

    Read more

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/25/ice-online-detainee-locator-system-searchable-database/feed/ 4     Private Investigator Research Links – June 1 – July 17 http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/17/private-investigator-research-links-june-1-july-17/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/17/private-investigator-research-links-june-1-july-17/#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2010 01:32:09 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/17/private-investigator-research-links-june-1-july-17/ See all my favorite links

    Nationwide
    search for real estate agents by name
    http://www.realtor.org/rofindrealtor.nsf/pages/FS_FREALTOR?OpenDocument

    Search by name or business to ID POE and local board.
    H-2A
    Public Job Registry
    http://icert.doleta.gov/index.cfm?event=ehPJR.dspPJRExternalCases&state=ALL

    Selected
    Guide to Sources for Genealogy California History Room
    http://www.library.ca.gov/calhist/pdf/genealogyguide.pdf

    City directories, newspapers, vital records, voter registration
    Naturalization
    documents for residents naturalized in Contra Costa County
    http://www.cocohistory.org/frm-resources.html

    Naturalization documents for residents naturalized in
    Contra Costa County from 1850 to the 1980s.
    Bing
    Query Language
    http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff795667.aspx

    “Bing Query Language enables the incorporation of
    advanced operator syntax in requests sent to Bing Application
    Programming Interfaces. Advanced operator syntax is syntax that enables
    you to refine a query.”
    California
    Recorded Documents by county
    http://www.ca.gov/OnlineServices/OS_Government_documents.html

    “Search fictitious business names, deeds, mortgage
    documents, easements, power of attorney, liens, and other documents
    which affect title to or possession of real property – by county
    clerk/recorder’s office.”
    California
    Property Searches by county
    http://www.ca.gov/OnlineServices/OS_Consumers_propsearch.html

    Public
    Records Searches – State of California
    http://ca.gov/OnlineServices/OS_Government_records.html

    Links to State government public records and some
    county records (inmate locators, vial records)
    Resources
    and Guides: Government, Legal, References, Courts
    http://www.justice.gov/jmd/ls/resource_guides.htm

    Guide to Court
    Resources by State
    http://www.justice.gov/jmd/ls/state.htm

    California
    County Recorder Clerk’s Offices – URL Link
    http://www.co.el-dorado.ca.us/countyclerk/other_rec.html

    The
    Real Life Social Network
    http://www.slideshare.net/padday/the-real-life-social-network-v2

    Social networks are changing how we connect to people
    but we still mostly relate to a small handful of people on a regular
    basis.
    Country search engines and
    Regional Search Engines
    http://www.philb.com/countryse.htm

    The
    Secret Life Of Teens Online
    http://www.darkreading.com/insiderthreat/security/privacy/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=225702001

    “Among the unsettling findings, 69 percent of 13- to
    17-year-olds have included their physical locations on the social
    networking status updates; 28 percent chat with people they don’t know;
    43 percent revealed their first name; 24 percent, their email address;
    18 percent, a photo of themselves; and 12 percent, their cell phone
    numbers. More than 15 percent of 13- to 15-year-old girls shared a
    physical description of themselves.”
    San Francisco
    Homeless Resource Directory
    http://sfhomeless.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

    San
    Francisco Pantries that give away free groceries or produce
    http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/pantry_english.pdf

    San
    Francisco Free Eats – Places to get free food
    http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/eats_english.pdf

    San
    Francisco Mental Health Services
    http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/mental_english.pdf

    San
    Francisco Free Medical Care Facilities
    http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/medical_english.pdf

    San
    Francisco Homeless Shelters
    http://www.freeprintshop.org/download/shelter_english.pdf

    Phone
    Number Location Lookup
    http://www.melissadata.com/lookups/phonelocation.asp

    “Phone Number Location Lookup” Enter the partial phone
    number or city to get location, carrier, type of service (landline or
    cell).
    Geographical Data –
    Places, Landmarks, Cities, Counties, Maps
    http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos

    “Your One Stop for Finding and Using Geographic Data”
    First Names Reference Database
    http://incompetech.com/named

    Name variations and origins
    Audio
    transcription service
    http://www.magiscript.com/home?d=1277079394673

    Search
    Engine Tutorial
    http://www.brightplanet.com/images/uploads/12766231881-SearchEngineTutorialFormatted041218.pdf

    Teen Chat Acronym Decoder
    http://www.teenchatdecoder.com/

    Search trending words, phrases
    and links
    http://www.blogpulse.com/trend

    “…visually track “buzz” over time for certain key
    words, phrases or links.”
    Boardreader – Forum Search Engine
    http://boardreader.com

    Search conversational web: forums, microblogs, images,
    videos
    Outlook Plugin to Search People, Email,
    and Attachments Instantly
    http://www.xobni.com

    “Xobni for Outlook, the sidebar that makes searching
    your inbox and finding information about your contacts fast and easy.”
    Sherman Library &
    Gardens – Repository for Polk City Directories
    http://www.slgardens.org/default.asp

    2647 East Pacific Coast Highway
    Corona del Mar, CA
    92625
    Website design : Flavors.me
    http://flavors.me

    “Flavors.me allows anyone to create an elegant and
    dynamic website using personal content from around the web for only $20 a
    year.”
    Web monitoring
    http://www.tracerlock.com

    Fee-based “web monitoring/web clipping service.”
    Google Map of US Rest Areas
    http://restareas.appspot.com

    Markers for approximate location of highway rest stops.
    Common
    Mistake Makes Tweets Invisible
    http://adriandayton.com/2010/06/common-mistake-makes-tweets-invisible

    Make @name tweets available to everyone.

    See all my favorite links

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/07/17/private-investigator-research-links-june-1-july-17/feed/ 4     Private Investigator Research Links – April 3 – May 4 http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4-2/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4-2/#comments Sun, 30 May 2010 06:20:35 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4-2/

  • Acronyms and Abbreviations and Texting Lingo

    "The Acronym Finder allows users to decipher acronyms from a database of over 600,000 entries covering computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military."

  • Netvibes – Realtime information gathering

    Custom keywords monitored on the web.

  • A Guide to Facebook’s New, Simpler Privacy Controls

    Settings changes as of May 2010.

  • Plastic Bag Recycling

    Sites that accept plastic bags for recycling.

  • Prize winner employees at major retail companies

    Search by name at Google, with site search.

  • Unclaimed Property Recovery & Reporting

  • Online Reputation Research

    "Research commissioned by Microsoft in December 2009 found that 79 percent of United States hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants." Download the pdf study.

  • Find A Grave – Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials

  • The Best Twitter Tools and Twitter Apps – oneforty

  • California Live Scan Locations

    California LIVE SCAN Fingerprint Services Locations

  • Licensed Health Facilities in California

    Search all the licensed Long-Term Care facilities or Licensed Hospitals in California and get complaints and citations.

  • Mexican Records Searches

  • Advice For Scam Victims

    "Report Scams: What To Do If You Get Scammed"

  • Check Username Availability at Multiple Social Networking Sites

    Search for availability of profile names at multiple social networking sites.

  • Unclaimed Property and Escheat Law

  • Street Name Lookup

    "Enter a 5-digit ZIP Code to get a list of all the unique street names in the ZIP Code. Or enter all or part of a street name to get a list all the matches nationwide."

    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4-2/feed/ 0     Private Investigator Research Links – May 5 – May 29 http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-may-5-may-29/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-may-5-may-29/#comments Sun, 30 May 2010 06:00:50 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-may-5-may-29/

  • Acronyms and Abbreviations and Texting Lingo

    "The Acronym Finder allows users to decipher acronyms from a database of over 600,000 entries covering computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military."

  • Netvibes – Realtime information gathering

    Custom keywords monitored on the web.

  • A Guide to Facebook’s New, Simpler Privacy Controls

    Settings changes as of May 2010.

  • Plastic Bag Recycling

    Sites that accept plastic bags for recycling.

  • Prize winner employees at major retail companies

    Search by name at Google, with site search.

  • Unclaimed Property Recovery & Reporting

  • Online Reputation Research

    "Research commissioned by Microsoft in December 2009 found that 79 percent of United States hiring managers and job recruiters surveyed reviewed online information about job applicants." Download the pdf study.

  • Find A Grave – Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials

  • The Best Twitter Tools and Twitter Apps – oneforty

  • California Live Scan Locations

    California LIVE SCAN Fingerprint Services Locations

  • Licensed Health Facilities in California

    Search all the licensed Long-Term Care facilities or Licensed Hospitals in California and get complaints and citations.

  • Mexican Records Searches

  • Advice For Scam Victims

    "Report Scams: What To Do If You Get Scammed"

  • Check Username Availability at Multiple Social Networking Sites

    Search for availability of profile names at multiple social networking sites.

  • Unclaimed Property and Escheat Law

  • Street Name Lookup

    "Enter a 5-digit ZIP Code to get a list of all the unique street names in the ZIP Code. Or enter all or part of a street name to get a list all the matches nationwide."

    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/29/private-investigator-research-links-may-5-may-29/feed/ 3     Private Investigator Research Links – April 3 – May 4 http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/04/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/04/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4/#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 04:20:51 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/04/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4/

  • Drugs and the Drug Trade – Street Names

    "Load of Laundry" has an alternative use… This site works with Internet Explorer only.

  • Executive PayWatch Search 2010

    Research company officer names, companies and pay of executives.

  • Employment Screening Research and Employment Links

    "Compliance Resources Employment Screening Background Checks "

  • FamilySearch.org – Family History and Genealogy Records

    19th and 20th century genealogical – census, vital, passenger records.

  • Maryland Estate Search

    Search the Register of Wills.

  • Missing Money – Unclaimed Property Related Links

    "Unclaimed Property Related Links"

  • Check Emergency Medical Personnel Status

    The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) keeps a list of individuals who have gained and maintained status as a Nationally Certified First Responder, EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate, and/or Paramedic.

  • Pill Identification

    "Pill Identifier Search by Imprint, Shape or Color"

  • FedSpending.org

    "full spending data for federal contracts"

  • SEC EDGAR Full-Text Historical Search

    2-week free trial

  • Commodity Futures Traders

    "Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) registration and NFA membership information"

  • Enron Email Dataset

    "This dataset was collected and prepared by the CALO Project (A Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes). It contains data from about 150 users, mostly senior management of Enron, organized into folders."

  • Pfizer payments to doctors database

    "2009 Health Care Professionals Payments Disclosure Report"

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
    Subscribe to additional links to research sources and new public records sites, delivered by RSS or viewed through your Twitter application at: http://twitter.com/PIbuzz.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/05/04/private-investigator-research-links-april-3-may-4/feed/ 6     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of April 2 http://pibuzz.com/2010/04/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-april-2/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/04/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-april-2/#comments Sat, 03 Apr 2010 19:47:30 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/04/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-april-2/

  • Compensation – University of Miami – School of Medicine

    Faculty Compensated Outside Professional Activities in the University of Miami Health System

  • Firearms laws by state

    Summaries of State and Local Firearms Laws

  • Expert Witnesses & Consultants

    Find legal expert witnesses, mediators and professional resources. Add your own listing.

  • Workplace Verification | Businesses Using E-Verify

    "This database is a nationally accessible database of immigration status information, including more than 60 million records. "

  • Stats about all US cities – real estate, relocation info, house prices, home value estimator, recent sales, cost of living, crime, race, income, photos, education, maps, weather, houses, schools, neighborhoods, and more

    "over 74,000 city photos not found anywhere else, graphs of latest real estate prices and sales trends, recent home sales, home value estimator, hundreds of thousands of maps, satellite photos, stats about residents (race, income, ancestries, education, employment…), geographical data, state profiles, crime data, registered sex offenders, cost of living, housing"

  • Online Federal Court Opinions

    "Members of the public are advised that not all opinions and rulings, even by participating judges, are necessarily posted to this page."

  • Asian Name Pronunciation Guide

  • Learn How To Pronounce Names Correctly

  • Pronounce Names – Dictionary of Name Pronunciation

  • The Traceability of an Anonymous Online Comment

    "Yesterday, I described a simple scenario where a plaintiff, who is having difficulty identifying an alleged online defamer, could benefit from subpoenaing data held by a third party web service provider. Some third parties—like Facebook in yesterday’s example—know exactly who I am and know whenever I visit or post on other sites. "

  • Industrial products and services

    Search to find manufacturers, distributors and service providers -

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
    Subscribe to additional links to research sources and new public records sites, delivered by RSS or viewed through your Twitter application at: http://twitter.com/PIbuzz.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/04/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-april-2/feed/ 1     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of March 12 http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/13/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-12/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/13/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-12/#comments Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:00:45 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/13/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-12/

  • FreezePage – Take snapshots of any Web page

  • Oregon Department of Justice – Search For Consumer Complaints

    on-line database of complaints submitted to Oregon DOJ Consumer Hotline.

  • Ixquick Search Engine

    "When you use the Ixquick or Startpage search engine, results will appear as normal, but underneath each link description will be a Proxy link too. Clicking it will allow you to visit a website, but remain private as it is loaded in an Ixquick privacy window. The downside to this is the page will load more slowly due to Ixquick having to retrieve it first, but if privacy is important then you probably won’t mind the wait."

  • Witness Statements: Work Product or Not?

    California: witness statements taken by attorneys or their agents (private investigators) are subject to discovery.

  • Foreign Labor Certification Data Center

    H1-B visa applications. From Foreign Labor Certification Data Center.

  • Federation of State Medical Boards

  • The U.S. Government’s Official Web Search

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    Subscribe to additional links to research sources and new public records sites, delivered by RSS or viewed through your Twitter application at: http://twitter.com/PIbuzz.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/13/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-12/feed/ 2     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of March 5 http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/07/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-5/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/07/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-5/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:11:30 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/07/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-5/

  • Web Search : SeekOutWeb – Search Engine

  • Surf Canyon Search

    The About.com Web Search Reader’s Choice Award Winner for 2010

  • CPAdirectory – Directory Of Certified Public Accountants

    Search across all states from a search engine, use the site query: name site:cpadirectory.com A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.

  • American Association of Attorney-Certified Public Accountants Directory Search

    A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.

  • National Society of Accountants – Directory Search

    A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.

  • Certified Public Accountant – PFS Credential Holder Directory

    A partial listing. Check with the state government for all licensed CPAs.

  • Local Health Safety, Environmental and Crime Information

    Find neighborhood features, including demographics, weather, police stations, meth lab ordered clean-ups, sex offenders.

  • Companies and Public Employee Salaries

    Salary, name search, public company profiles – Check some public and private employee salaries

  • Plagium – Track plagiarism

    Track plagiarism on the Internet.

  • California Real Estate & Financial Services License Status Lookup

    "licensing information for the Department of Corporations, Department of Financial Institutions, Department of Real Estate and the Office of Real Estate Appraisers."

  • GIMP – The GNU Image Manipulation Program

    "GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software"

  • Kngine

    Search based on meaning

  • USCIS – H-1B Approved Petitioners Fiscal Year 2009

    U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved H-1B petitioner employers

  • CataList, the official catalog of LISTSERV lists

    "CataList, the catalog of LISTSERV lists! From this page, you can browse any of the 50,516 public LISTSERV lists on the Internet, search for mailing lists of interest, and get information about LISTSERV host sites. "

  • Crime Smasher criminal record background check

    ARREST REPORTS | FEDERAL CRIMINAL COURT DOCKETS | WANTS AND WARRANTS

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/03/07/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-march-5/feed/ 3     Make your Facebook “Friends” private http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/28/make-your-facebook-friends-private/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/28/make-your-facebook-friends-private/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:03:15 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1880 Last week, Terry Towery and I presented, “Using Technology in Investigation, including Social Networking Websites” at the Capital Case Defense Penalty Seminar. I spent a good amount of time talking about finding people on Facebook, even if they have a common name. However, in the discussion on Facebook settings, I cited this misleading statement from Facebook:

    Certain categories of information such as your name, profile photo, list of friends and pages you are a fan of, gender, geographic region, and networks you belong to are considered publicly available to everyone, including Facebook-enhanced applications, and therefore do not have privacy settings.

    “Publicly available to everyone” and “do not have privacy settings” suggest that you do not have the option to hide your “friends” list. Not true! Since just about everything Facebook is annoying, this setting detail is not out of character. You won’t find it in the complicated privacy settings section.

    In the top right corner of your Facebook page you’ll find “Profile” squished between “Home” and “Account”. After selecting “Profile”, scroll to the “Friends” box in the left sidebar. Just above the phrase “See All” is a pencil. Clicking that will open up an edit box, demonstrated in this image.

    fb-friends

    Uncheck “Show Friend List to everyone”. Now your friends are visible to each other but not to the general public. If you wanted to inform the world that Dashiell Hammett is your friend, you could make an exception by entering his name in the “Always show these friends” box.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/28/make-your-facebook-friends-private/feed/ 2     Online court indexes are incomplete http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/28/online-court-indexes-are-incomplete/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/28/online-court-indexes-are-incomplete/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:56:41 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1877 Public records researchers know that the online court case index for any one county may not be as reliable as the one maintained at the courthouse. BRBPub reports that as much as 15 percent of counties have inaccuracies.

    Some of the typical shortcomings noted for the online search of court records include missing cases, incorrect/missing IDs, wrong charge codes, missing dispositions, lack of sentence details, and missing probation updates/violations. The date range of online records online is often much shorter compared to searching in-person.

    BRBpub has added a feature for subscribers to its Public Records Retriever Network — a nationwide directory of companies that search onsite government public records — that displays a warning when there is a discrepancy between the online database and the onsite index. Their caution for Hennepin County, Minnesota reads:

    The online system for court records is incomplete. The federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) prevents the state from displaying harassment and domestic abuse case records online, but these convictions are available at the courthouse. Comment fields for all case types are not available online but are available at the courthouse. Party street address and name searches on criminal, traffic, and petty misdemeanor pre-conviction case records are not accessible, but are at the courthouse. Also missing are pending/filed cases, warrants, probation before conviction, and continue for diversion programs. A criminal/traffic/petty search excludes all Hennepin County and Ramsey County payable citations except: 1) those that result in a court appearance; and 2) Ramsey DNR payable citations.

    Also, the Errors and Omissions insurance that private investigators maintain excludes online court research for background checks. You should tell your clients. Then they may appreciate why it’s cost-effective and prudent to pay you to go to the courthouse.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/28/online-court-indexes-are-incomplete/feed/ 2     Federal court disparity between the treatment of government agents and defense private investigators http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/19/federal-court-disparity-between-the-treatment-of-government-agents-and-defense-private-investigators/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/19/federal-court-disparity-between-the-treatment-of-government-agents-and-defense-private-investigators/#comments Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:44:54 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1864 EvidenceProf Blog writes about two recent cases — one from the 6th Circuit, the other from the 10th — that highlight the courts’ different treatment of private investigators and government agents. The government can keep a private investigator out of the courtroom when she’s not testifying, under Federal Rule of Evidence 615, because she’s not the “employee of a party which is not a natural person [the government] designated as its representative by its attorney”.
    Read more

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/19/federal-court-disparity-between-the-treatment-of-government-agents-and-defense-private-investigators/feed/ 0     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of February 12 http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-february-12/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-february-12/#comments Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:49:39 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1854

  • KnowEm Username Check

    "Search over 350 popular social media networks to instantly secure your\nbrand across the social web."

  • CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES TELEPHONE LIST

  • CloudMade Maps

  • Proposed Model Jury Instructions The Use of Electronic Technology to Conduct Research on or Communicate about a Case Prepared by the Judicial Conference Committee

  • EveryScape – Local Search

  • Google Search Operators – Google Guide

  • California Highway Patrol Glossary of Commonly Used Abbreviations

  • State and County Public Records links

    Download this pdf of links to county and State courts, Recorders, assessors and other public records (starting at page 24). Date of document update unknown.

  • Rummaging in the Governments attic: Governmentattic.org

    governmentattic.org provides electronic copies of hundreds of interesting Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

  • Lookup medical doctors

  • California Background Clearance Listing – licensed care facility workers

    "California Background Clearance Listing California background clearances only – Individuals on this list have no felony or misdemeanor convictions reported by the California Department of Justice. However, the individual may have been arrested with no criminal conviction, convicted of a minor traffic offense or adjudicated as a juvenile."

  • MaxMind – GeoIP | IP Address Locator Demo

    "find countries and cities, enter IP addresses/hostnames"

  • Licensure Verification Databases – By Jursidiction

    USA and Canada professional licensing verification databases.

  • International White Pages | International Yellow Pages on AnyWho

  • International Phone Books

  • How to Request Military Service Records or Prove Military Service (DD Form 214, DD-214, DD214

    The DD-214 is a one page document that lists discharge data, where one entered service, military specialty and civilian related occupation, decorations, medals, badges, commendations, citations, and campaign ribbons, education and training completed, type of discharge or transfer to reserve (which happens if they served less than 4 years active REGULAR service.

  • Contracts with the State of California

  • Computer Crime & Intellectual Property, Dept. of Justice

  • Federal and State government transparency

    Government budget accountability projects.

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/02/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-february-12/feed/ 1     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of January 22 http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/25/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-22/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/25/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-22/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 04:18:08 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/25/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-22/

  • Cayman Islands General Registry of Companies

  • National Motor Vehicle Title Information System

  • Index of American Universities

    As home pages are found for American Universities granting bachelor or advanced degrees, they are added here, one page per university."

  • Citation Styles, Style Guides, and Avoiding Plagiarism

    "How do you cite sources? The means to identify sources is to provide citations within your text linking appropriate passages to relevant resources consulted or quoted. This can be done through in-text parenthetic notes, footnotes, or endnotes. In addition, a bibliography or list of works cited, is almost always placed at the end of your paper. The citation system and format you use will be determined by the citation style you choose. "

  • Authenticating Web Pages as Evidence

    "As you approach the witness with printouts of the web pages, you are stopped in your tracks: "Objection, lack of foundation." "

  • Old telephone books and telcom museum

    "We maintain and operate one of the nation’s largest privately held telecommunications archives, operate two museums and conduct educational programs on telephone history."

  • iMapflickr.com: Embeddable Google Map and Flickr Mashups

    "iMapflickr.com allows non-techie users to create fully customizable embeddable google maps of geocoded flickr photosets or search results. You can use it to create maps of your own photos, or other users."

  • CrowdEye – About Us

    "CrowdEye is a new generation of search engine which looks at the worldwide web in a new way. By tracking discussions on Twitter, we can help our users find out what’s important to them right now in real time."

    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/25/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-22/feed/ 0     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of January 15 http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-15/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-15/#comments Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:45:49 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-15/
  • Search for files on the Internet – findthatfile.com
    “findthatfile.com’s mission is to provide the most comprehensive file search on the Internet encompassing Web, FTP, Usenet, Metalink and P2P resources (ed2k/emule) including 47 file types and 554+ file extensions including over 167 file upload services** like RapidShare.” ref:inter alia

  • Kngine
    “We are working on new indexing technology to unlock meaning; rather than indexing the document in Inverted Index fashion, Kngine tries to understand the documents and the search queries in order to provide meaningful search result.” ref: inter alia

  • State Cell Phone Driving Laws
    “Cell Phone Driving Laws January 2010″

  • New Means of Communication: Employee Text Messaging Presents Unique Employment Issues : Hunton Employment & Labor Law Perspectives
    “New Means of Communication: Employee Text Messaging Presents Unique Employment Issues”

  • SlideFinder – Search engine for PowerPoint presentations
    Find PowerPoint slides

  • Federal Contracts and Grants Portal
    “Current data includes all contracts and grants awarded by different government agencies. “

    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/16/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-15/feed/ 2     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of January 8 http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/09/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-8/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/09/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-8/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:06:39 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/09/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-8/

  • Public Records Searches – State of California

    Most requested public records online services with links to county and state business, crime, birth, marriage, death, real property, contractors, professional licenses records in California.

  • Readable App – change the appearance of web pages

    "Readable is an application that helps you read more of the web. It transforms text on any website using fonts, colors, and layouts of your choosing."

  • Topsy – A search engine powered by tweets

    Topsy ranks results based on how well they match your search terms, and the influence of the people talking about them.

  • Are Fair Trials Imperiled When Jurors Text and Tweet?

    "Jury duty is bad enough, but imagine not being able to check your phone or e-mail to help relieve the boredom. That’s the new rule in Michigan, where trial judges are now required to order jurors not to use phones or other electronic devices while in trial or in deliberations. Telling your Twitter followers you are stuck at the courthouse is not likely to tip the scales of Lady Justice, but Googling for background info on a case is the legal equivalent of ripping off her blindfold. "

  • Calling jurors back to court ‘extremely rare’

    "Accused by defense attorneys of violating a judge’s order, five members of the jury that convicted Dixon of misdemeanor embezzlement have been called to appear at a motions hearing Jan. 6, in which the mayor will seek a new trial. Dixon’s attorneys have accused jurors Nos. 3, 6, 8, 11 and 12 of becoming friends on Facebook, a social networking site, and sending messages to each other there, in violation of Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Dennis Sweeney’s order not to discuss the case."

  • Michigan High Court Sends Message to Tweeters

    "recent cases in which jurors have caused a stir by using social media such as Twitter to communicate about their jury service. Taking the issue on proactively, the Michigan Supreme Court has adopted a new rule requiring judges to admonish jurors to not use electronic communication devices during trial, and not to use them during breaks to comment or conduct research on the case. "

  • The Indiana Law Blog: Ind. Courts – "Texting, tweeting tempt jurors, frustrate judges"

    "Indiana Supreme Court committee took up the issue of banning iPhones, cell phones, laptops, social network sites such as Twitter and Facebook, by jurors while they are deliberating a case."

  • Kansas Supreme Court denies request to Tweet or make audio recordings

    "Kansas Supreme Court denies request to Tweet or make audio recordings

  • No Tweeting in Federal Court, and why I think the Supreme Court should get on Twitter « Josh Blackman’s Blog

    Apparently sending Tweets during a trial is considered “broadcasting” and the Court can ban it according to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure #53. From United States v. Shelnutt (M.D. Ga. Nov. 2) (H/T Volokh),"

  • The Top 5 Google Alternatives and Why You Should Use Them

  • The Academic Tree

    "The Academic Family Tree is a nonprofit, user content-driven web database that aims to accurately document and publicly share the academic genealogy of current and historical researchers across all fields of academia. "

  • MyFloridaCounty.com

    Search Statewide Official Records

    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/09/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-january-8/feed/ 0     California and Nationwide Traffic Citation Records http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/04/california-and-nationwide-traffic-citation-records/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/04/california-and-nationwide-traffic-citation-records/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:01:06 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1816 Even if you don’t need to identify traffic citations for your subject, a citation database places your subject in a region on a specific date.

    Monterey County, California has a traffic citation database separate from the court case traffic index that you can search by name and date of birth. Supply the driver license number to check the traffic ticket payment system for violations and the date when traffic school was completed.

    Search by name with a date of birth at the San Mateo County site to locate active citations.

    A jurisdiction’s traffic citation payment site may require a case docket number or a citation number and some government agencies contract with commercial payment services, which have varying field input requirements. The government agencies may specify that citation information can only be retrieved with a citation number. But Fresno State, for example, allows a search by license plate number.

    Another commercial site has the option of finding a citation by vehicle plate and state.

    Subscribe to links to research sources and new public records sites, delivered by RSS or viewed through your Twitter application at: http://twitter.com/PIbuzz.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/04/california-and-nationwide-traffic-citation-records/feed/ 2     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of December 28 http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-28/ http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-28/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:59:16 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-28/

  • Genealogy Query and Surname Database


  • Proposed reforms in state sunshine laws, 2009


  • Pillbox – Identify an unknown pill

    Visual association of an unknown pill with its type.


  • 100 Search Engines in 100 Minutes

    "‘100 Search Engines in 100 Minutes’"


  • yoName – People Search. Search for people across social networks, blogs and more.


  • Media Search Engine

    "Searching within over 4,500 broadcast media, newspapers, & national magazine websites:"


    • The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2010/01/03/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-28/feed/ 2     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of December 21 http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/26/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-21/ http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/26/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-21/#comments Sun, 27 Dec 2009 05:02:54 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/26/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-21/

  • Notary Public Database

    "Certificates of Appointment of Notary Public or Master are filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk where issued. A copy of each Certificate is filed with the Vermont Secretary of State for the purpose of certifying appointments, qualifications, and signatures of Vermont notaries public and masters. "

  • State and National Archives in the U.S.

    "State and National Archives in the United States"

  • Confronting the fact that jurors do research Trial attorneys should assume that, despite judges’ instructions, jurors will engage in illicit ‘e-discovery.’

  • California "POST Background Investigation Manual: Guidelines for the Investigator"

    "The "POST Background Investigation Manual: Guidelines for the Investigator" provides guidance to assist background investigators in the conduct of background investigations of both peace officers and public safety dispatchers. "

  • Twitter: Prohibited Jury Communications in Missouri

    "You are not permitted to communicate, use a cell phone, record, photograph, video, e-mail, blog, tweet, text, or post anything about this trial or your thoughts or opinions about any issue in this case to any other person or to the Internet,"

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/26/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-21/feed/ 3     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of December 14 http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/19/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-14/ http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/19/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-14/#comments Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:56:29 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/19/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-14/

  • Forum Discussion Search with BoardTracker.com

    Search for and monitor Internet discussions.

    tags: monitoring, alerts, competitive intelligence

  • Google Mistrials, Twittering Jurors, Juror Blogs, and Other Technological Hazards

    In the past few months, we have heard numerous stories about\nmistrials and appeals from jury verdicts that resulted because\none or more jurors used the Internet to obtain ex parte\ninformation or to communicate with outsiders.

    tags: jurors, jury instructions, jurors twittering, juror internet research

  • Send Large Files Of Any Size: Guide To The Best Tools And Services To Transfer Large Files

    "Send Large Files Of Any Size: Guide To The Best Tools And Services To Transfer Large Files"

    tags: transfer, files, send files

  • Advanced Twitter Search

    tags: twitter, search

  • Criminal Case Number Index Search – Santa Clara County Superior Court

    "Criminal Case Number Search Select one of three options for searching the five-year criminal index."

    tags: Santa Clara, criminal, court

  • The County of Santa Clara – The County of Santa Clara

    "To obtain inmate booking information you must provide the Person File Number (PFN) or Booking Number (CEN), or Name, and Date of Birth or Booking Date of the inmate."

    tags: Santa Clara, inmates, jail, California

  • Find California Code

    California Codes.

    tags: california, codes, legal

  • Datadial Launch Their Reputation Monitoring Tool

    tags: reputation, monitoring, competitive intelligence

  • APA Style Blog: How to Cite Twitter and Facebook, Part II: Reference List Entries and In-Text Citations

    "How to Cite Twitter and Facebook, Part II: Reference List Entries and In-Text Citations "

    tags: twitter, APA, citation

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/19/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-14/feed/ 4     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of December 7 http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/12/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-7/ http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/12/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-7/#comments Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:37:13 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/12/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-7/

  • Advanced Twitter Search


  • Criminal Case Number Index Search – Santa Clara County Superior Court

    "Criminal Case Number Search Select one of three options for searching the five-year criminal index."


  • The County of Santa Clara – The County of Santa Clara

    "To obtain inmate booking information you must provide the Person File Number (PFN) or Booking Number (CEN), or Name, and Date of Birth or Booking Date of the inmate."


  • Find California Code

    California Codes.

     

  • Datadial Launch Their Reputation Monitoring Tool


  • APA Style Blog: How to Cite Twitter and Facebook, Part II: Reference List Entries and In-Text Citations

    "How to Cite Twitter and Facebook, Part II: Reference List Entries and In-Text Citations "


  • Find people in the U.S. Military | Private Investigator Public Records Internet Search Privacy Reporting – PI Buzz

    "Find people in the U.S. Military "


    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/12/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-7/feed/ 1     Private Investigator Research Links – Week of December 1 http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/04/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-1/ http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/04/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-1/#comments Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:20:49 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/04/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-1/

  • How To Research A Legal Problem: A guide for non attorneys

    This guide is intended to help a person with a legal problem find legal rules that can resolve or prevent conflict. It is most useful to work through the steps and sources in the order given.

    tags: legal, legal guide

  • Twitter Lists – No RSS Feed?? No Problem!!

    tags: twitter, rss

  • Oregon Department of Justice – Public Records and Meetings Manual

    Every two years, following adjournment of regular legislative sessions, the Attorney General updates and publishes a Public Records and Meetings Manual. The manual is intended to provide assistance to state agencies, local governments and to the public generally. The following links will direct you to a PDF file containing the 2008 edition of the manual. We are posting this PDF version in order to facilitate public access to the 2008 manual, but the document was initially prepared for print publication. If you are a public employee or board member using the manual for public business, or if you are using the manual in connection with for-profit activity, we ask that you purchase a print version of the manual if you have not already done so. Instructions for purchasing a print version of the manual appear below."

    tags: Oregon, public records

  • "Online and Wired for Justice: Why Jurors Turn to the Internet"

    Analysis of juror behavior & the responses of the court system. Has an extensive list of references.

    tags: jurors, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Internet, online behavior

  • How to Turn Twitter Into Your One-Stop Lifestream

    "How to Turn Twitter Into Your One-Stop Lifestream"

    tags: twitter

  • Missouri Traffic Crash Reports Online

    tags: missouri, traffic

  • Search California Registered Sex Offenders- California Dept. of Justice – Office of the Attorney General

    tags: sex offender, california

  • Sex Offender alerts

    "To find the local law enforcement office with a Community Oriented Notification website that supports address lookups and active email alerts select the appropriate state and county. If you do not find a local office that makes sex offender information available on line with address search capability and email alerts designed to send you an email when a registered sex offender moves within your safety radial, please use the "Contact Us" so we can work with the office to make services available. "

    tags: sex offender, alerts

  • Searchzooka – Never type the same search twice

    Filter search engine results.

    tags: searchzooka, search engines

  • Toxicology Database

    Search environmental health, chemicals, toxicology databases by keywords.

    tags: database, toxicology

  • Online Scanners

    List of live police scanner feeds by state.

    tags: police, scanner, fire

  • Live Police, Fire, and EMS Scanners on RadioReference.com

    Listen to fire, law enforcement and medical response scanner frequencies online.

    tags: police, scanner, fire

  • PayMyCite.com

    Pay traffic citations

    tags: paymycite, traffic, traffic citations

  • CHP Traffic Incident Information Page

    tags: traffic, CHP

  • Fresno County Superior Court Case Index

    tags: no_tag

  • Fresno County Pay Traffic Fines Online

    Pay Traffic Fines Online

    tags: citation, traffic citations, traffic, Fresno

  • Citations Payment

    "pticket.com provides information about Citations in various cities, colleges and universities. In many cases, you are also able to pay your Citation online with a credit card."

    tags: citation, traffic citations, traffic, pticket

  • Alameda County Traffic Citation – Moving Violations

    Enter a Docket or Citation Number"

    tags: citation, traffic citations, traffic

  • Red Light Violation Photos

    With Citation Number, License Plate Number and City Code view red light violation photo.

    tags: photonotice, traffic citations, traffic

  • San Mateo Traffic Citation Search

    Search citations by name with DOB (get DL #) or by DL #. Get citation #, reason, payment, vehicle registration address.

    tags: san mateo, traffic, traffic citations

    • Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2009/12/04/private-investigator-research-links-week-of-december-1/feed/ 2     State and Federal Case Law Now On Google http://pibuzz.com/2009/11/19/case-law-google-scholar/ http://pibuzz.com/2009/11/19/case-law-google-scholar/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:51:58 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1772 Google Scholar is indexing the case law in all 50 states – Court of Appeals and Supreme Court – and the federal courts.

    As with the other Google search engines, Google Scholar makes use of its own advanced search operators. Search by keywords, personal names, inclusive dates, and specify one or more states in a single search. Options on a single search are limited to 1) Search all legal opinions and journals; 2) Search only US federal court opinions or, 3) Search only court opinions from self-selected states.

    Wondering which courts are included and the inclusive dates? Ask Google Scholar Help:

    Which court opinions do you include?

    Currently, Google Scholar allows you to search and read opinions for US state appellate and supreme court cases since 1950, US federal district, appellate, tax and bankruptcy courts since 1923 and US Supreme Court cases since 1791 (please check back periodically for updates to coverage information). In addition, it includes citations for cases cited by indexed opinions or journal articles which allows you to find influential cases (usually older or international) which are not yet online or publicly available. Legal opinions in Google Scholar are provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed lawyer. Google does not warrant that the information is complete or accurate.

    View a list of search results with citations and a 2-line summary of text where some or all of the keywords appear. From here you can select to read an entire case or view case summaries that have cited the selected case.

    My search query [(garbage OR trash) (curb OR curbside) +privacy], limited to California courts, 1970-2009 returned 33 cases.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2009/11/19/case-law-google-scholar/feed/ 2     Social Networking – Legal and Ethical Issues for Lawyers and Investigators http://pibuzz.com/2009/10/25/social-networking-legal-and-ethical-issues-for-lawyers-and-investigators/ http://pibuzz.com/2009/10/25/social-networking-legal-and-ethical-issues-for-lawyers-and-investigators/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:17:33 +0000 Tamara Thompson http://pibuzz.com/?p=1726 Should an investigator or attorney “friend” a prosecution witness in order to find impeachment evidence? Are there legal or ethical bars to surreptitiously gathering data from social network profiles? Should the intent of the user have any bearing on the formulation of law related to access? These and more questions were stirred up in the mix of case studies presented at the (first, annual?) symposium, Social Networks: Friends or Foes? Confronting Online Legal and Ethical Issues in the Age of Social Networking, sponsored by UC Berkeley School of Law. Yeah, a long title but, hey, these folks are academics. And the case studies constituted just the first panel (“Problems Unique to Social Networking and the Law”) of an extraordinary assemblage of academic, government, activist, policy and practicing lawyers rounding out the 5-panel day.

    Much of the discussion concerned access to profile content, – the difference between civil and criminal (where there’s the familiar prosecution/defense imbalance) cases – whether certain information should be private even if it can be viewed by unintended parties. For example, should employers be able to view deleted personal information? No one mentioned the issue of whether schools have a legal right to compel students to turn over their user names/passwords (See: “Area School Wants Access To Students’ Social Networking”). There may be instances when a legal requirement for disclosure would apply. Lauren Gelman, Executive Director, Stanford Law, Center for Internet and Society, raised the question of whether evidence in the online sites could be used, say, in divorce cases, to support evidence gathered by other means. The Deputy General Counsel for Facebook took the position that user’s profile content is private, begging the audience to sue the company to settle issues of access. Yeah, the big brother of the moment IS laughing.

    Bill Gallagher, a criminal defense attorney, noted that a circumvention of the Facebook corporate roadblock would be to get witnesses to bring to court copies of their social network profiles. But it’s impossible to get a judge to compel a witness to do so. He added that defense attorneys have to get a cooperative prosecutor to issue a subpoena in order to get access to a social network profile. Life is very different for government attorneys and law enforcement…

    But this was an environment in which those who might be adversaries outside the ivory walls engaged in friendly disagreements, more in the form of musings than hard-line positions. Perhaps this was, in part, due to the unsettled nature of the law and the do’s, don’ts and can’ts of social networking.

    Paul Ohm was on the panel, “The Law and Ethics of Covert or Deceptive Data-Gathering”, proposing that some content — photos and status updates — should be sealed from view, treated differently than other types of documentary evidence because it’s transient, akin to a passing comment over the water-cooler. Lauren Gelman inquired whether user profile content was different in kind from other types of memorializing due to the privacy restrictions that the account holder sets. She added that the online content has a long searchable life, which also gives it a unique nature. And who decides what is private? As Paul Ohm rightly pointed out, commercial entities are the holders of that power.

    Speakers on the panel, “Regulating Crime in the Cloud: Policing Unlawful Behavior on Social Networks”, discussed release of email, who should interpret the meaning of an online comment or image, weighting the probative value vs. the harm caused. A passing observation by Judge Kurt Kumli, Santa Clara County California Superior Court, caught my attention. (Correct me if I’m wrong!) In a domestic violence matter, a defendant can “follow” the victim on her Facebook site without violating a protective order.

    In the spirit of academic engagement (unlike government, that must be dragged, kicking and screaming), all of the conference presentations were recorded and will be available on the website.

    In the meantime, take a look at this guide to social networking research that was prepared by the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic in response to a request from the Santa Clara Public Defender: Handbook on Conducting Research on Social-Networking Websites in California.

    Cases, news reports, books, law journal articles and opinions are noted in the resources section of the website and the Case Studies are also posted. The mp3 files of all the panels, the audience comments and questions and the Keynote Address (by John Carlin, Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to the Director of the F.B.I.) should be available this week.

    UPDATE (10/30/09): The mp3 audio files are at the conference site.

    Read Donna Seyle’s conference review, The Legal Dilemmas of Social Networking, Part 1

    A review from the non-profit sector is here.

    ]]>     http://pibuzz.com/2009/10/25/social-networking-legal-and-ethical-issues-for-lawyers-and-investigators/feed/ 25