What were student experiences and evaluations during the whole process?

I learned that it is quite easy to find information about people on the Internet. However, I learned that if the person is not currently listed in the phone book, it is harder to get their current address. I was somewhat alarmed by some of the information that is available online. Some things I was alarmed about were:

• Many of these sites also brought up the person's relatives and neighbors
• At least one site advertised that they retrieved social security numbers and adoption records
• These sites will take your credit card number when you pay to search for someone and then add your billing address to their database and sell it to other people-search sites. However, this does help keep their databases accurate and might help you locate someone, so I guess I have mixed feelings about this practice
• Many people-search sites will often not bring up the person's current contact information if they are not listed in the phone book, haven't used their credit card to purchase anything on the Web recently (see bullet above), and have not recently been involved in a court case or legal transaction. According to the consumer guide, this is the case even if you have paid for a more advanced search. So, buyer beware!

I was happy to run across the Consumer Guide that ranked the Web sites. They pointed out how many people-search sites are no better than the white pages. I also appreciate their recommendations of three of the top search sites.

I also learned that sites that are not specifically for finding someone's contact information can also be a good way (if not a more effective way) to locate someone. For instance, Classmates.com worked for me. MySpace also worked and would have been totally free. Although these sites do not give you the person's exact contact information, they still allow you to get in touch with the person.

I came across a number of resources, including that consumer guide, through links that were on other sites. So, through following the links, I learned more information.