Alternatives to PublicData.com?
I have mentioned PublicData.com in the past when explaining how to find the owner of an abandoned car and checking sex offender records. I even posted about it in the security section of the Open Source Ministry Blog.
We are nearing the end of year one and renewal time is coming up. We are nowhere near using all of our searches, but much of that has to do with how bad the system has been.
Checking Backgrounds
We have been using as a basic background check for some minor positions as a test, and it has failed miserably. Our school tried it out as an addition to older background checks to see if anything new came up. The problem is that nothing usually comes up about the people we search on even when we know they have a record based upon a full blown background check. We have never used this as a primary checking tool, all people who truly need full checks get the full expensive checks through more reliable sources. Sure, I have pulled up information about a civil lawsuit that occurred 20 years ago in Texas, but that is not what we need to be concerned about.
Checking On Drivers License Info
Several drivers license searches came back with multiple results for the same person, or no result for someone who clearly had one, and often the record was out of date and showing the the license had expired a few years ago. Truly worthless.
Identifying Abandoned Vehicles
The search is picky. I have had no luck with checking by license plate so I do it by VIN but keep the plate number for verification. This has failed me a few times including bringing up a former owner of the vehicle or returning no vehicle at all. Most recently I came up blank on what CarFax.com correctly identified as a 2005 HONDA CIVIC LX with 5 records attached to it. There should be some record of this vehicle in the system. It was built in Alliston, Canada and was the 526,879th one to come off the line that model year so it could have easily been sold in late 2005, But still, that is more than one year for PublicData.com to get its data in order.
Summary
I found a page of people-search links which describes it as an “inexpensive but increasingly dated database.”
Unless we find something better we will probably stick with this for right now. Being able to get some information is better than no information. Right now I would be happy with a cheap VIN database since the people checking was just a happy bonus when we chose it to begin with.
Are you using anything inexpensive like this that is doing a good job I would love to hear about it.
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