“A person's true name can be used to look up information about them in public databases.”

Ancestry is a subscription service offering extensive resources for researching family history including databases containing billions of digitized historical documents… Over 1.2 billion records in over 3,000 databases, including census images from 1790 onward, immigration and passenger lists, military draft cards, city directories, and much more. The CIA Records Search Tool (CREST) is the name of the CIA database of declassified intelligence documents. The database, searchable by title, date, and text content, includes… material on the creation, organization, and role of the CIA within the U.S. Government.

The Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service provides electronic public access to federal court records. Registered users can: • Search for a case in the federal court where the case was filed, or • Search a nationwide index of federal court cases. If you cannot locate a case when searching a federal court’s case records by case number or party name, try using the PACER Case Locator.

Locate a federal court case by using the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) or by visiting the Clerk’s Office of the courthouse where the case was filed. PACER allows the public to obtain case and docket information from federal appellate, district and bankruptcy courts, and the U.S. Party/Case Index via the Internet. Users can search by case number, party name, filing date, and other criteria.

The Federal Election Commission explains that campaign finance information is public and that its online systems allow users to search for data on contributions and expenditures. It notes that users can look up information about individuals who donate to federal candidates and committees, with search fields that include the contributor’s name. The FEC also cautions that while these records are public, they are subject to specific privacy protections and disclosure rules set by law.

“Public record disclosure laws grant the public the right to inspect almost any government record related to the conduct of the public’s business. Similar laws in all states, the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the access provisions of many other federal statutes are all based on the presumption that the public is entitled to inspect a vast array of government records. … Public record laws contain many exceptions that protect various privacy interests and other important goals, such as public safety and economic development.”

“Each agency that maintains a system of records shall… upon request by any individual to gain access to his record or to any information pertaining to him which is contained in the system, permit him… to review the record and have a copy made of all or any portion thereof….” 5 U.S.C. § 552a(d)(1). … “By comparison, the Privacy Act permits only an ‘individual’ to seek access to only his own ‘record,’ and only if that record is maintained by the agency within a ‘system of records’ – i.e., is retrieved by that individual requester’s name or personal identifier….” The DOJ further notes that individuals’ access requests “should [be] process[ed]… under both the Privacy Act and the FOIA… [and] Mr. Citizen’s first-party request – because it is a FOIA request as well – additionally obligates Agency to search for any records on him that are not maintained in a Privacy Act system of records.”

FOIA.gov explains that the Freedom of Information Act “gives you the right to access information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government.” It clarifies that FOIA “provides that any person has a right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to federal agency records, except to the extent that such records… are protected from disclosure” by exemptions. Agencies typically search by a person’s name or other identifiers when processing FOIA requests that seek records about a particular individual, subject to privacy and other exemptions.

“The Tennessee Public Records Act provides that public records are open for inspection to any citizen of Tennessee except as otherwise provided by law. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503(a)(2)(A).” It adds: “Only citizens of Tennessee have the right to inspect and receive copies of public records under the Tennessee Public Records Act. … Governmental entities are not required to sort through files and compile information to respond to a records request. Accordingly, a request may be denied if it does not sufficiently identify specific records or broadly requires a records custodian to sort through files or compile information.”

Colorado white pages let you find people across the state through public records. Search for names and addresses using court files, property documents, and vital records held by county and state offices… White pages in Colorado give you access to public records that list people by name. County clerk and recorder offices keep deeds, liens, and marriage licenses. Each of these documents shows names and addresses of real people.

The guidance notes that “employment records of state, county, municipal, or other public employees that contain cell phone numbers, home telephone numbers, addresses, bank account information, Social Security numbers, or driver’s license information… [must be redacted] whenever possible and not be used to limit or deny access to otherwise public information.” It explains that under Tennessee law, certain identifying information is confidential when a valid protection document is on file: “From that point on… the records custodian must consult the file and ensure that any identifying information about anyone covered by a protection document… is kept confidential before allowing any record to be open for public inspection. ‘Identifying information’ includes any record of home and work addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security number, and ‘any other information’… that could reasonably be used to locate an individual.”

There are two distinct search pages on publicaccountability.org that provide two different ways to search the data. The first, which we're calling a name search, is a search for a name or address as it appears as a party in any of the datasets we've indexed. The second, a dataset search returns rows from a single dataset. The full original records can be downloaded from the dataset search results page.

PeopleMap on Thomson Reuters Westlaw is the premier public records search tool for discovering data other resources might miss. With access to billions of public records from proprietary and trusted sources, including numerous live gateways, you can confidently get the job done faster and more accurately. Locate people and find critical information about their connections, assets, and more.

SearchSystems.net is a directory. We organize the official government sources – the real databases maintained by real agencies – so you can go directly to the source instead of paying a middleman. Every link on this site points to a government portal, not a commercial aggregator. Many public records can be searched for free through official government websites. Court case searches, property tax lookups, inmate searches, sex offender registries, and business entity searches are typically free online.

The UC Davis guidance explains that under the California Public Records Act, “access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business is a fundamental and necessary right of every person in this state.” It highlights “two competing interests: Access to Public Records and Privacy” and notes that the Legislature is “mindful of the right of individuals to privacy.” It further states that “every individual has broad access rights to records containing personal information about themselves, with very limited exceptions,” while access to personal information about others may be limited when it is exempt from disclosure or would constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

PublicData.com is the source for public information and public records. Databases include Drivers License databases, Sex Offender databases, Voter databases… Have you ever had trouble finding a certain individual or business name on PublicData.com because you didn't know the exact format used? Advanced Search was created to provide these capabilities (and much more). Enter as much information as you know, and records that match the most information will be at the top of the search results list.

The guide distinguishes among types of personal data and notes that identifying or identifiable information includes names, personal identifying numbers, social security numbers, birthday, birthplace, and legal status. It explains that such identifiers can be used to link to and locate other records about a person in various systems. The guide is focused on privacy risks, stressing that the more unique identifiers (like full legal name plus other details) someone has, the easier it becomes to find additional information about them in records and databases.

Instantly search 760 million+ United States court cases. Our database lets you search by party name to find cases across many jurisdictions, subject to availability and local court rules. We index publicly available docket information and do not include sealed or confidential records.

U.S. privacy law draws a distinction between information contained in public records, which is generally accessible, and other personal information. However, even public records are increasingly subject to statutory limitations on electronic dissemination. Many states restrict the publication of certain identifiers and limit the ability to search online databases solely by an individual’s name in order to reduce the risk of identity theft and harassment.

The Bureau of Criminal Identification provides statewide criminal history checks for a fee of $20 per name-based search or $25 for fingerprint-based searches. Can You Search Ada County Criminal Records for Free? Ada County residents and members of the public may access certain criminal records at no cost, as provided under the Idaho Public Records Act § 74-102. This statute establishes that "examining public records" is free, though agencies may charge for copies, specialized searches, or certified documents.

Many U.S. jurisdictions provide name-based public search tools for certain categories of records, such as civil and criminal court dockets or professional licenses. However, numerous important databases are not accessible to the general public by name, including most full criminal-history repositories, detailed DMV records, and many law-enforcement intelligence systems. Access to those is restricted by statute or policy to law enforcement or other authorized users, even if they may be searchable by name internally.