Legal 500
Week 4 Assignment 2 The Value of Digital Privacy in an Information Technology Age
Strayer University

The Value of Digital Privacy in an Information Technology Age We live in the technology era. This technology can either be for us or against us. Laws have been transformed and created to protect the people from unwanted privacy breaches. There are growing concerns with privacy issues and the ease of access. It use to be that one would have to spend hours doing lookup over the internet, however, now all the information has been combined on one website. There are numerous websites that give personal information with only a name. Some of these websites that will be discussed in this paper are: Been Verified, People Finders, and Look Up Anyone.

1. List and describe at least three (3) technologies that allow an individual to research citizens’ private data.

Been Verified is a website that provides contact information, criminal history, bankruptcies, judgments and liens. Their company mission is "to make public records easy, affordable, and accurate for everyone, giving all people the opportunity to access public records when they need them – instantly, affordably, and reliably" (Levy, Josh). People Finders provides information on everything on one person. For a membership fee you can access: full name, address, phone number, relatives, age and DOB, address History, property search, marriage/divorce, birth/death, bankruptcies, sex offender check, and criminal check. Lookup Anyone is a website where one can obtain an array of information. In one place, for a small fee one can do searches for: people, public records, reverse phone, background check, cell phone ID, property report, email lookup, death records, and business search. As per their terms and conditions " upon registration, LookupAnyone grants you a nontransferable, nonexclusive license to access our databases and the information contained in the databases, for the purpose of performing data verification, person, property and address location and related searches solely for your own internal uses in compliance with these terms and conditions" (LookupAnyone Consumer Site).

2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of public access to this information, both for the researchers and those who are being “ investigated”.

There are advantages and disadvantages when using technology to look up personal information. These advantages and disadvantages can be broken down into two categories: the researcher and the one being investigated. Taking a first look at the researchers side, the advantages are ease of access, and less time doing the research. Instead of researchers having to go to multiple websites for the information, companies databases have combined all the information, for a fee, in one location that can be obtain from one search. The disadvantages for the researcher is one should not assume that the data provides a complete or accurate history of any person's criminal or civil history. Researchers should use extreme caution when interpreting the results of a criminal or civil background search for any type of personal verification because websites give both positive and negative results and do not guarantee the information provided. Addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses are not always up to date. For the person being investigated, results can also have their advantages and disadvantages depending on their individual background. A person with no criminal history or any imperfections on their background check will have an advantages when companies or persons of interest search their name. No news is sometimes good news. If a person has their work experience on a website that promotes them in their profession, it will be an advantages for potential employers or customers to see their work experience and credentials. Technology is also used to find lost loved ones or distant class mates. Use of these