Before conducting a free public record search, the first step is to understand the difference between public record and private information. Most users are not clear about this classification. While most personal information is unethically leaked, there is private information that sometimes becomes public and can be found out legally. Which Records are Classified as Public?

Government records fall under the classification of public records. Real estate records, records on liens and judgments, court records, professional licenses, flings on intellectual property and business records such as UCCs, business and public company filings are public records.

Are All Government Records Classified Under Public Records?

There are some exceptions to this classification. In most states, juvenile court records are not considered as public records. In fact, public records are determined by state or federal records. For example, in the United States, the federal laws differ from state to state. So the definition and categorization of public record is different in each state.

For instance, you may search for your missing family member through voter registration records in the US state Maine, but this may not be accessed in other US states. Similarly, courthouses can requested to help you search records of felonies and misdemeanors, but a state’s criminal agency which maintains criminal histories, may not allow you to access the official records on crimes.

Which Records are Classified as Private?

Confidential or personal records are classified as private records. Such records include an individual’s medical and financial records, insurance information and most importantly, his or her Social Security Number. For companies, confidential information such as undisclosed business methodologies and practices, unpatented ideas, designs and formulas come under private records.

Do Private Records Become Public?

Private records can be made public through unethical or illegitimate means. There are many methods to leak private information about a company or individual. An expert hacker can trick a computer program and distribute information through the internet. So, it can become public, though unethically.

Some discontented employees also have the habit to share secret company information and make them public, which may result in huge company losses.

There are many other illegal ways that can leak your public information. If you are a job seeker and have the habit of posting resumes to public forums, chances are that your personal information including phone number and SSN may become public through an illegal identity theft business.

The above distinction between public and private records was meant to inform people who were of the opinion that ‘all government records are public’ and all ‘private records cannot be made public’. It is better to be safe than sorry and so one should understand the laws of each state before conducting any public record search.

If you would like to find out any of this type of information, your going to need a public record service proven to perform.  Check out our public record reviews for what we found to work the best.

A public record is a government document created and maintained be certain agencies to be made open for anyone who wishes to view it. There are billions of such documents required by law; from census related records such as marriage and divorce, death records to legal records like court records.

Public records are easily available online as there are numerous sites dedicated to providing information about anything. With the advent of internet, there is absolutely no need to spend hours looking for a piece of legal information in a government public record facility. Instead, the information is easily available by a click of the mouse button.

There are various uses of public records. People delve deep into many sites for various reasons: from searching for their lost forefathers to verifying their fiancé’s background. Some public search records are just rummaged around for research purposes, the reasons are plenty. Here are some common and uncommon uses of public records.

Public Records are Used For Conducting Research:

There are many statistics, facts and figures required about a particular location, which cannot be just found out by doing a Google search. In such cases, public records serve as the best information-base for research purposes.

Key information about maps, land use laws and policies, population stats, square miles of counties and states and any statistics can be easily available through public records. You can also search for data about US states and counties via various public record sites.

Using public records for research purposes serve many benefits. Homeowners may use a public record website to check any estate-related information about a county they wish to move or check whether a state‘s crime rate is high or not.

Public Records are Used to Trace Genealogical Information:

There has always been that intense curiosity among individuals to trace their lineage to find out who their forefathers were. Prior to the advent of the internet, such information was very hard to find. But, now there are many online databases that contain information about one’s ancestry. People can trace their genealogical records very easily. They can trace records that go back to 300 years or even date back to the 15^th century.

Tracing one’s lineage can be tad difficult if the person has limited information available with him or her. However, with online genealogical sites, it has become very easy to search. Just conduct a marriage or birth search in the state or county where your forefathers lived and you will acquire the required information within minutes.

Public Records are Also Used for Performing Background Checks:

Whether you want to trace your fiancée’s whereabouts or check your neighbor’s history, online public records offer information within seconds. You can log into a public record site and check for criminal and court records of your soon-to-be neighbor or divorce and marriage records of your fiancé.

The information will be available but differ from state-to-sate. However, if you are performing a background check on a particular person, the records will automatically show up in the search.