The Truth About Big Brother Databases October 1, 2002 by Lynn Peterson and Genie Tyburski, Guest Writers Worried that your personal details may be stored away in a database for anyone to see? Two public records experts describe exactly what is -- and is not -- included in "big brother" databases. Do you know that your FBI profile resides in a database where employers -- or anyone willing to pay the fee -- may review it?(1) That the database, and others like it, contains your social find people by e-mail address milk carton and missing security number, credit profile, employment history, travel records, court records, personal interests, and serious health conditions?(2) That information brokers regularly sell such data to identity thieves?(3) These attention-grabbing messages appear with increasing frequency in the news. But while they make the stuff of a good legal thriller, they reek of inaccuracies and distorted facts. Rather than informing about what personal information exists online, how it gets there, and who has access to it, some would have you believe that your life is milk carton and missing milk carton and missing an open book for all to read. Or worse, that anyone wanting a new identity may buy it. What information appears in commercial, or publicly accessible, databases about you? Any transaction or event that generates a public record may find its way online. If you purchase a home, for example, information about the sale, including the sale price, amount mortgaged, and the mortgagor, becomes public record. Likewise, if you file for bankruptcy, own a business, obtain a professional license, or become involved in porn search milk carton and missing a lawsuit, then information about you resides in public records. Criminal convictions and, in some states, marriage, divorce, death, boat or vehicle ownership, vehicle accidents, applications for fishing or hunting licenses, and voter registration also produce public records. Increasingly, public records reside in commercial or government-sponsored databases, but restrictions concerning their access and use make illegal some of the claims you read in the news. Major federal laws governing the sale or distribution of personal information include the Fair Credit Reporting Act, lyrics missing you milk carton and missing the Drivers Privacy
