Saturday, June 10, 2006

Chapter 17: Telephone Directories

Online telephone directories are far more useful for locating people than print directories for several reasons:

  • They are normally less limited by geography, sometimes even extending to multiple countries
  • They can be updated more frequently
  • In addition to being searchable by name, some are searchable by address and/or telephone number; this means you can find out who and who else lives at an address or uses a phone number
  • Some are searchable by an address range, so you can obtain contact information for a whole neighborhood in order to find others who may have information about a person
  • They can be merged with other databases to include unlisted numbers, email addresses, and so on
  • Some are linked to mapping databases, allowing you to see a virtual map of exactly where a person lives (or even an actual aerial map of their home)
There are dozens of telephone directories available on the Internet. If you don't know where to start, there are even directories of telephone directories. These include:

Using these sites, you can locate telephone directories for countries around the world, as well as reverse directories, area code directories, and other specialty directories. These directories are extremely useful for locating individuals, especially those with less common names.

For information on reverse telephone directories, see:

Reverse Directories: Searches by Telephone Number

Reverse Directories: Searches by Address

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Welcome to Naked in Cyberspace v3!


If you haven't already figured it out, Naked in Cyberspace is NOT a porn site (believe it or not). It is a continuation of the book "Naked in Cyberspace: How to Find Personal Information Online," by Carole A. Lane.

If you're interested in searching for personal information (locating someone, looking up your family tree, etc.), or if you're interested in finding out what others can learn about you online, you've come to the right place.

Are all of the sources free? Absolutely not. I like the free ones best, but the sad fact is that there are many companies that expect to make a few bucks after going through all of the trouble of compiling and putting your personal data online. They charge money because they can - personal information is incredibly useful for many valid purposes (real estate ownership, safeguarding us against our elected officials, screening prospective employees, and so on).

Don't hate the messenger. I'm only here to tell you where the information is and how it can be used. It's up to you to speak to the Federal Trade Commission or your elected officials if you want to change this.

If you ever have trouble navigating this blog, please use the Table of Contents or the Search this Blog device at the top of the Blogger screen.

Friday, September 02, 2005

Appendix P: Have I Missed Anything?

Updates to the material in Naked in Cyberspace can be found at http://nic3.blogspot.com. If there are sources that I've missed, errors made, or anything that you think should be covered that you did not find in Naked in Cyberspace, please send your comments and updates to calane@cox.net.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Appendix N: Other Database Vendors

There are hundreds of online database vendors. The following list represents only a small sampling of these vendors. It is my intention to include the major vendors who offer a broad base of databases, as well as the vendors whose databases I have found to be most helpful researching information on individuals (in addition to those listed in Appendices L and M).

ABC voor Handel en Industrie C.V
(pg 543)

AccuWeather, Inc.
(pg 543)

American Chemical Society (ACS)
(pg 543)

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
(pg 543)

BASELINE, INC.
(pg 544)

Bell & Howell Information and Learning
(pg 544)

Bureau van Dijk, SA (BvD)/Electronic Publishing
(pg 544)

Burrelle’s Information Services
(pg 544)

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA)
(pg 544)

Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN)
(pg 544)

The Canadian Press
(pg 544)

CDA/Investnet
(pg 544)

ChemWeb, Inc.
(pg 544)

Chollian
(pg 544)

Claritas Data Services
(pg 545)

Congressional Quarterly
(pg 545)

DataStar
(pg 545)

Det Kongelige Bibliotek
(pg 545)

Dialog
(pg 545)

DIMDI (Deutsches Institut fuer Medizinische Dokumentation und Information)
(pg 545)

Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
(pg 545)

DRI-WEFA
(pg 545)

Dun & Bradstreet Canada
(pg 545)

Dun & Bradstreet Business Credit Services
(pg 545)

Dun & Bradstreet France S.A.
(pg 545)

EBSCOhost and EBSCO Publishing
(pg 545)

European Information Network Services
(pg 545)

Factiva
(pg 546)

Federal News Service
(pg 546)

FIZ Technik (Fachinformationszentrum Technik e.V.)
(pg 546)

Gale Group
(pg 546)

GE Information Services (GEIS)
(pg 546)

GENIOS Wirschaftsdatenbanken
(pg 546)

Gesellschaft fur Betriebswirtschaftliche Information mbH (GBI)
site 1
(pg 546)
or
site 2
(pg 546)

Global Access/Primark Corporation
(pg 546)

H.W. Wilson Company/WilsonWeb
(pg 546)

Haver Analytics
(pg 546)

HITEL
(pg 546)

Infomart Dialog
(pg 546)

Information for Public Affairs, Inc. (IPA)/StateNet
(pg 547)

INFOTRADE N.V.
(pg 547)

Jane’s Information Group
(pg 547)

K.G. Saur Verlag GmbH & Co
(pg 547)

Ministerio de Educacion, Deporte Cultura y (ESPANA)
(pg 547)

National Adoption Center (NAC)
(pg 547)

NewsBank, Inc.
(pg 547)

NewsEdge Corporation
(pg 548)

OCLC- EPIC- Firstsearch Catalog- Firstsearch Electronic Collections Online
(pg 548)

Organization of American States, General Secretariat
(pg 548)

Ovid Technologies, Inc.
(pg 548)

Profound Inc./The Dialog Corporation
(pg 548)

Questel Orbit
(pg 548)

Research Bank Webor Thomson Financial Services, Inc.
(pg 548)

Reuters Information Services, Inc.
(pg 548)

SilverPlatter Information, Inc.
(pg 548)

Simmons Market Research Bureau, Inc. (SMRB)
(pg 548)

The Sports Network
(pg 548)

Standard & Poor’s Compustat
(pg 548)

STN International
(pg 548; 8/31/02)

Telerate Systems Inc.
(pg 549)

Thomson Financial Investment Banking and Capital Markets Group
(pg 549)

U.S. Federal Election Commission
(pg 549)

Unitel
(pg 549)

University of Oslo Library
(pg 549)

The WEFA Group
(pg 549)

Friday, August 12, 2005

Appendix M: Public Records Producers and Vendors

Although there are many other companies that offer online public records, tenant and employee screening, and related services, the following list is an attempt to identify only those companies that are producers of proprietary databases of this type.

Accufax
(pg 539)

Accu-Source, Inc.
(pg 539)

Acxiom Corporation
(pg 539)

Agency Records/Rapid Information Services
(pg 539)

American Insurance Services Group
(pg 539)

Ameridex Information Systems
(pg 539)

AmeriFindor DCS Information Systemsor Dallas Computer Services Inc.
(pg 539)

Aristotle Industries
(pg 539)

Atlantic Magellan Corporation
(pg 539; no longer maintains a website as of 8/31/02)

AutoTrackXP
(pg 539)

Avert, Inc.
(pg 540)

Background Information Services, Inc.
(pg 540)

Carfax, Inc.
(pg 540)

ChoicePoint Online
(pg 540)

Commercial Information Systems, Inc.
(pg 540)

Confi-chek
(pg 540)

CT Corporation System
(pg 540)

DAC Services
(pg 540)

DBT Online Inc.or Database Technologies, Inc.
(pg 540)

DataQuick Information Systems, Inc.
(pg 540)

Dun & Bradstreet, Inc.
(pg 540)

Environmental Data Resources Inc.
(pg 540)

Experian
(pg 540)

Explore Information Services
(pg 540)

Fidelifacts Metropolitan Inc.
(pg 540)

General Information Services (GIS)
(pg 540)

Hogan Information Services
(pg 540)

Hollingsworth Information Services, Inc.
(pg 541)

The Info*Center Inc.
(pg 541)

Information America (IA)
(pg 541)

Informus Corporation
(pg 541)

Insurance Information Exchange
(pg 541)

LexisNexis
(pg 541)

Lloyd’s Maritime Information Services
(pg 541)

Merlin Information Services
(pg 541)

MIB Group, Inc.
(pg 541)

Motznik Computer Services Inc.
(pg 541)

National Credit Information (NCI) Network
(pg 541)

New Mexico Technet Inc.
(pg 541)

Nexis
(pg 541)

Ohio Professional Electronic Network (OPEN)
(pg 541)

PACER Service Center
(pg 541)

Plat System Services Inc.
(pg 541)

Property Data Center Inc.
(pg 541)

Public Data Corporation
(pg 541)

Rental Research Servicesor Employment Research Services
(pg 541)

The Screening Network
(pg 542)

Search Network Ltd.
(pg 542)

Statens Vegvesen (SVV)
(pg 542)

Superior Information Services, LLC
(pg 542)

TransUnion Employment Screening Services, Inc.
(pg 542)

Verifacts, Inc.
(pg 542)

West Group/WESTLAW
(pg 542)

Friday, August 05, 2005

Appendix L: Major Bulletin Board Vendors

America Online, Inc.
(pg 537)

CompuServe Information Services
(pg 537)

Delphi Internet Services Corporation
(pg 537)

GE Information Services (GEIS)

The InternetThe Internet: Owned by no one, Internet service is provided by thousands of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). For a list of ISPs, see The List
(pg 537)

Prodigy Services Company
(pg 537)