Page 26 - Understandinging Forensic Technology Landscape

Tools and techniques Non-U.S. public records resources
Outside of the United States, privacy and other laws
Resources for U.S. public records frequently restrict the use, publication, storage and
Most investigators subscribe to aggregation services dissemination of public records. Hence, the investigator
(aggregators) as an efficient means to make public must identify data sources and data aggregators on a
records accessible, searchable, and easily integrated into country-by-country basis.
forensic work products. Aggregators typically retrieve
content from the same sources: public records. Each While commercial sources are available, they are far
has strengths and weaknesses. Many practitioners less extensive than U.S. aggregators. Researchers can
leverage two or more aggregation services as sources, often start the process by conducting Google searches
considering the following attributes: modified by “public records * COUNTRY.” Generally, a
“.gov” website is more reliable than a “.com” website. If
• Currency (how often the data are updated)
unsure, look for the government body to ascertain you
• Relevance (the company’s strength in gathering are not buying fraudulent, fabricated, or stolen data.
specific data sources, such as motor vehicle
records or UCC records) Free public record resources
Search engines, such as Google and open source sites
• Ease of use
like BRBPublications.com are rich sources of free
• Customer service information. Google can be used to identify public record
• Price archives, such as state secretaries of state. Similarly,
BRBPublications.com provides links to every U.S. state
Professional public record aggregators in the and their public record availability. Creating your own
United States include the following: bookmarks for every county, city, and state record
• Thomson Reuters CLEAR archive in the United States is free and easy.
• LexisNexis Accurint Direct internet searches of topics and individuals can be

• TransUnion TLO fruitful. Free resources are plentiful but should be vetted
for their value and veracity. Choose “.gov” sites over
• Tracers
“.com” ones to identify the actual public record versus an
• Microbuilt outdated or unvetted source.

• idiCORE
Fee-based social media resources
• DelvePoint Social media searches can be used to monitor security
risks relating to specific events or assets that have been
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley
25
Act and Driver’s Protection Privacy Act (among discussed on social media, or to support assessment
27
26
others) legally protect certain records — such as social of trends or topics relevant to valuation of companies
security number, date of birth, and other protected or assets.
data. This data can only be sold for the permissible
purposes, such as fraud examination, litigation, criminal
investigations, and credit applications. Practitioners
must comply with these laws.

25 Fair Credit Reporting Act, Federal Trade Commission, ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/privacy-and-security/credit-reporting, accessed November 26, 2019
26 Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Federal Trade Commission, ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/privacy-and-security/gramm-leach-bliley-act, accessed November 26, 2019
27 The Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) and the Privacy of Your State Motor Vehicle Record, epic.org, Electronic Privacy Information Center, epic.org/privacy/drivers/, accessed
November 26, 2019

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