E-spy with my little eye

>> Internet tools for snooping on you

by MICHAEL CITROME

For some reason you just don't like that new guy your sister is dating. Sure his fancy car looks nice and his wardrobe is up to date, but you just don't buy it.

What would you do, paranoid sibling? Tail him? Stake out his apartment? No way! That type of hands-on stuff is so Banacek.

No need to dust off the old trench coat and glass eye, because a slew of Internet search tools let you get the goods on that little bastard while sipping espresso in your bedroom. Just keep your credit card handy.

Rent Check is watching you

But it works both ways. Every minute of every day you're under surveillance. Don't bother looking around for hidden telescreens, this isn't Big Brother style. The people heading up this particular information cartel are concerned with your buying power, your earnings, your expenses and your debts. When you apply for a job, credit or housing, the people in charge want to know everything they legally can about you.

Although under Canadian law only certain people are allowed to directly request credit reports, there are companies who will get a report for you for a cost of about $20.

One of the sites providing consumer credit reports is Rent Check (www.rentcheckcorp.com), operating out of Toronto, which, after paying an annual membership fee of $50, gives you access to a variety of other background searches as well.

Education Verification and Employment Verification are exactly what they sound like: reports on where someone went to school, and where they've previously worked. The official function of these services is to let prospective employers make sure job applicants aren't lying on their CVs. But they're basically available to anyone with $15 to spend.

Getting someone's Canadian criminal record is also a snap. The price is higher than the other background checks, at around $80. But for a dedicated armchair detective, this information can be invaluable.

All that's needed to receive info on a person is their full name and their current address. While other information such as date of birth or previous addresses will help narrow down the search, they're not required. Rent Check requires prospective members to claim they have a legitimate purpose for requesting this information and to promise not to misuse the info they receive.

Not enough?

But while Rent Check is the most versatile Canadian site, there are more to choose from. AssetFindCanada (www.assetfindcanada.com) will research complete reports on the assets and history of individuals and businesses, and even reveal income sources of the self-employed.

Driving records are another category of info accessible online. E-screening.com, a Texas-based background-check company, offers a driving record search for Canada and the U.S. Any traffic or DWI infractions will pop up in seconds. Much like Rent Check, there's also a variety of other background searches, but there's no signup fee, just an ethical agreement.

E-screening.com is one of many U.S. sites brokering information that wouldn't normally be easily accessible to the average person. As more sites appear offering these services, public records will likely become as easily searchable as product reviews or tech support.

There are a few Web sites that let you search a reverse phone directory. Put in the phone number, and the server will return the name and address. Try www.infospace.com/canada/reverse or, in the States, Numberfinder at www.numberfinder.com.

Stay cool

Although it may seem alarming that all this information is available online, it was possible to get the same sort of data before the Internet even existed. Now it's just in a more convenient form.

"The information that is available on the Internet is the same information that was available before, but you had to dig through binders to get it," says private investigator Louis Laframboise, of Laframboise Chambord.

As for the potential for misuse, Lamframboise doesn't see it as much greater than before the Internet was popular, except in the number of people using these services.

"If you look at it in terms of numbers, it could increase the probability of misuse of certain information," says the PI. :

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