How Do I Find Information on a Person for Free?

Getting to know people can be as risky as it can be exciting. Though it’s practically impossible to know every single detail about someone, you should be confident that no one around you poses a threat to you or your loved ones.

If even those who are closest to us can be potentially dangerous, just think about that match on a dating app or that innocent-looking employee you’ve recently hired. You know nothing about these people, what they’ve done, or what they’re capable of. Appearances and demeanors can be deceiving, and seemingly harmless people might surprise you.

If you want to know more about your newest acquaintances but don’t feel like spending a lot of money on it, you’re lucky to be alive in the information age. The availability of personal details all over the web makes it easier to find someone’s info for free.

Gather as much essential information as possible

A full name can go a long way, rather than first and last name only, because you might run the risk of confusing different people. Really, you can find a person by simply looking for their name in a search bar on any social media. It’ll likely bring up people from your area first, which can be a little creepy sometimes, but worth it in this case. If whoever you want to find out more about lives in your city or anywhere nearby, your life just got easier.

However, if you happen to know their birth date, age, names of family members, or anything of that nature, your searches will be even more accurate and helpful for the steps to come.

Use public state records databases

You can access your state’s public records online to check for convictions, arrests, felonies, and any other registered court information under a person’s name in all cities and counties. There, you’ll find important details, such as full name, age, family members, and of course, possible criminal charges. For precise results, however, you’ll need to gather the right information beforehand. Avoid misspelling or getting numbers wrong, because you could end up finding the wrong individual.

Please note that according to The Fair Credit Reporting Act, the use of public records for stalking people or leveraging sensitive information against them or others is criminal and could put you in legal trouble.

Have a look at their social media

With social media, we constantly risk our privacy. What that means is, even if we delete anything we’ve posted, it’ll remain catalogued in digital archives for years to come. It’s not wrong to check someone’s social media, especially if their pages aren’t private. People deliberately post about their daily lives, where they went to school, and even where they are right now. Their friends do the same thing, so they’re a source of more information. You can find a lot about a person based on what they willingly post to their feed—their posts could even cost them a job.

Can’t find someone’s user in a certain social media channel? Try another one. It’s very likely that they’re active users on at least one platform.

Use reliable services

While free people search services might require an extra fee if you want to dig even deeper into your research, they’re by far the best option. They usually offer one free report so that you can see how well it works before you make a decision. You’ll save a lot of time because you won’t have to spend hours trying to connect dots with facts you might be uncertain about. A single website can bring up all the data needed for a thorough background check, with unlimited search.

Just a reminder that the main goal is to keep yourself and others safe, and to avoid making any matters worse. Therefore, wisely handle any private information that falls into your hands.