Internet

How to Find Someone With No Online Presence

The Internet is overflowing with resources, many of which can be very helpful when you want to track someone down. Even people without an obvious online presence can be found with the help of people search engines, public records, social networks, and other tools. Whether you are searching for a tenant that’s gone AWOL, a long-lost friend, or an old teacher, a bit of digging should get you exactly where you want to be. Here are the steps to finding information about someone online.

Check the Main Social Media

Just three years ago, over three-quarters of people residing in the United States had at least one social media account. If you are looking for someone, you can check the big players – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Don’t overlook LinkedIn by any means. Many professionals’ online presence is limited to their LinkedIn profiles.

Copyright Records

Copyright records are a useful source if you’re trying to track down a (little-known) musician, writer, artist, or another creative type. You might come upon a reference to them in the US Copyright Office. You can search these records online, both for corporate and for personal names. If you’re based in another country, you can check the equivalent source of information.

Google Search

Obviously, you’ve considered that running a simple Google search can show all kinds of information about your target, including where they live, information about family, what they do, or where they work. Boolean search operators can help you get more details if your search target has a common name. Google News is another helpful resource. It will shed light on scandals or notable recent achievements where the person might have been mentioned.

Set up Google Alerts if running a Google search is getting you nowhere. You’ll be emailed a notification if any information about the person you are looking for surfaces online. To do this, you can enter their name in the box at google.com/alerts. Through Show Options, you can customize the geographical region, language, frequency of notifications (once a day, once a week, etc.), and other settings.

Don’t forget that Google isn’t the be-all and end-all of searches. You should also try Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and others. All of their search algorithms are different, meaning you’ll get different pieces of information from each engine.

Patent Records

You can also look through the publicly available records of the US Patent and Trademark Office if the subject of your search is an inventor or scientist. It’s possible to search by keyword, name, design, and more. There are similar databases in almost every country.

Public Records

Records referred to as “public” can be very useful… or misleading. Not all the information they contain is accurate, usually due to delayed updates. If you get lucky, you might be able to find the person’s marriage certificate, divorce certificate, birth certificate, or other important documents. You can also check for entries in the person’s name or connected to it within company registers and land-use certificates.

The National Archives provide access to some veterans’ service records. These include documents, photos, and searchable databases. However, most of the data is not available on the Internet, especially records preceding WWI.

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Considering that about 1% of the US adult population is in prison, your subject’s being incarcerated is not out of the question. This person’s information won’t surface on social networks or other mentioned sites if they’ve been effectively convicted of a crime. The Federal Bureau of Prisons website has a list of all the people who’ve been detained nationwide. You can also check the prison records for your state.

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