There are free searches through some state government websites and other privatized sites. However, these no-charge services tend to be incomplete, could only be good for a single area or only include information from the previous year. Fortunately, reliable and comprehensive information is available. There are sites all over the Internet that have access to government files, criminal records, employment history and credit information. For a small fee you can have peace of mind about those who you allow to work in your business or participate in more personal areas of your life. Some will even give you your first search for free.

Since most of the information is coming directly through the filter of government bureaucracies, records obtained from sites that do not charge can be hard to understand and difficult to sort through. The majority of paid sites refine and present the information in a way that is easy to grasp while still being comprehensive in the amount of records delivered. Free sites can also be confusing to navigate, resulting in the receipt of only partial information. Partial information can be just as useless as no information.

It is impossible to be too safe. Anyone choosing to be dishonest has vast resources at their disposal to accomplish their goals. Having your own resource that gives you access to information on people you encounter and must grant some trust to, on any level, is simply necessary. People are learning more and more everyday that fraud and deception can happen to them and that is truly unfortunate. But being able to trust a site that has already done the heavy lifting when it comes to information gathering, grants peace of mind and allows you to have confidence in those around you.

Using a fee-based service also affords you the security and privacy you require when searching the Internet. Most government agencies track who is on their site and offer no privacy when doing background checks or information gathering. Make it easy on yourself and find a site that offers complete and thorough records while making it a priority to guard your privacy as a searcher. Not only will you save a lot of time, you will have everything you need to make well-educated decisions on whom to trust. Keep in mind that a good fee-based site will never charge you if there are no records found. Zero results mean zero dollars.

More and more people are getting burned by those who would lie about their history in order to gain access to the trust and resources of honest citizens. Protecting yourself, your business and your family is becoming as difficult as it is important and acquiring the information you need on a person, can be a convoluted chore. Government websites and organizations will provide you with some information but the paperwork required and the wait time can be very prohibitive. There’s also the fact that you won’t have any privacy in your search since the government is required to disclose to the person being investigated that you are the one doing the asking.

Then there is Google and other search engines that will undoubtedly give you an enormous amount of data to sort through while your eyes cross and your brain overloads on useless information that is completely irrelevant.

So how do you find out all there is to know about a person without giving up your own privacy or sifting through utterly useless Internet search engine pap?

It’s simple. For information on who your neighbors are, there are free sites like Family Watch Dog and the Federal Bureau of Prisons to keep you apprised of criminals, parolees and sex offenders that may be living in your area.

There are also professional companies online that will gather all the dirt, or preferably lack there of, for the more specific needs you may have. These services can provide marriage and divorce records, residential history, criminal background, credit checks, real estate holdings and employment history to name a few. Specialized sites for things like missing persons and access to civil registers are also available. Most of these professional information sites require a small fee but frankly, it is worth every penny. They do all the gathering and sorting for you, then present it in a way that makes sense and is instantaneous. All the while your privacy is honored because searches done through these sites are perfectly confidential.

We live in a digital age. It’s time to let those resources work for you.