Private Investigator News: Missouri database index of public records not online

"Some public records — such as court documents, campaign finance reports and business registrations — are already accessible online in Missouri. David Herzog is interested in the other ones.

Herzog, a fellow this year at the University of Missouri’s Reynolds Journalism Institute, is planning to launch a website next year that will allow Missourians to see what records are being collected by state agencies but aren’t being made available online. In its early stages, the Open Missouri website will provide a card catalog of sorts that would at least let the public know what records exist."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Nationwide tax refund database

"Did you expect a refund and not receive one? Check our database at sunsentinel.com/refunds to see if your name is there. If you're due a refund, all you have to do is tell the IRS your current address.

The data base we've created is nationwide and includes Puerto Rico. So search away."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Florida law allows officers to request mug shots withheld from public

"The state attorney’s office’s announcement last year that it was arresting six people in the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office kickback scheme was big news.

It also set off a scramble for mug shots that exposed a potential point of contention the next time a law enforcement officer is arrested.

Florida Statute 119.071 gives a sworn law enforcement officer the right to request in writing that his or her arrest photograph not be released to the public.

Controversy can arise when the media looks for the photograph and a jail supervisor must decide whether to snub the media or ignore the jailed officer’s request.

It’s an issue Okaloosa County Corrections Director Larry Caskey doesn’t relish.

“This statute has really created a conundrum for us,” he said. Caskey was faced with the dilemma for the first time in July 2009, when the Northwest Florida Daily News was looking for mug shots of former Chief Deputy Michael Coup and former Chief of Staff Sabra Thornton, who were arrested and charged with racketeering and grand theft, respectively.

Thornton and Coup had signed requests not to have their photographs released."  
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Sonoma County Ordered to Release Pension Data

"The Sonoma County Superior Court ruled Friday that pension information for thousands of county retirees is public information and must be released to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat and the public, but the Sonoma County Employees Retirement Association (SCERA)  said it will appeal the decision."

 
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Facebook Warns Debt Collectors About Using Its Service

"A Florida debt collector contacted a St. Petersburg woman's Facebook friends in an effort to get her to repay a $362 car loan. The woman, Melanie Beacham, promptly hit the collector, MarkOne Financial, with a civil suit in Pinellas County circuit court.

Though the suit was first filed in August, Beacham's attorney amended it recently, and the story broke nationally yesterday. According to the filing, a MarkOne employee going by the name Jeff Happenstance contacted both Beacham and two of her friends. As you can see in the message above, Happenstance asked the friends to have Beacham contact him without making reference to her debt.

While you may never thought of it this way, Facebook is a perfect tool for tracking down debtors and the people they know. LinkedIn and Twitter are, too."  
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Gmail now allows you to record incoming calls

"Google has just unveiled the newest feature to their popular GMail service’s voice calling capabilities: the ability to easily record incoming calls. It’s a nifty feature, but it could end up proving to be a hot issue not just for privacy advocates, but also possibly with federal authorities enforcing call recording laws.

The new feature was silently rolled out sometime over the weekend, and it works as easily as you’d expect. While it was possible to record calls through GMail before, the new feature allows you to just click a button and do it all locally, with no additional software required."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Say what you will about your employer on Facebook

"For the first time, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken a position in a case involving an employee who posted negative comments about her employer on a social media site; and employers should pay heed. The NLRB’s Hartford, Connecticut office recently issued a complaint that alleges, among other things, that American Medical Response of Connecticut acted unlawfully by (1) terminating an employee, who posted negative remarks about her supervisor on her personal Facebook page, and (2) maintaining an overly broad blogging and internet posting policy."
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Colorado Supreme Court allows use of fake Social Security Number

"The Colorado Supreme Court has reversed the conviction of a man who admitted using someone else's Social Security number to obtain a loan, concluding that the defendant wasn't really trying to assume a false identity.

The opinion was written by Michael Bender, who was joined by Mary Mullarkey, Gregory Hobbs and Alex Martinez. A strongly worded dissent by Nathan Coats was joined by Nancy Rice and Allison Eid.

The case involved Felix Montes-Rodriguez, who was convicted of criminal impersonation for using another person's Social Security number on a loan application at an automobile dealership."

"Although Montes-Rodriguez may have lacked the practical capacity to obtain a loan through Hajek Chevrolet because they could not check his credit without a Social Security number, he did not lack the legal capacity to obtain a loan," Bender wrote.  
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Social Security numbers will be assigned on a random basis as of June 2011

"The Social Security Administration currently provides a table, updated monthly, which shows the assigned states and issuance range for the first five digits of the SSN. These numbers are known as the High Group List. Effective on or about June 25, 2011, the High Group List will no longer be updated. On that date all SSNs will be assigned on a purely random basis. While the High Group List will remain online, after that date the potential exists for any possible SSN to be assigned at any location across the country. This randomization will also affect the Enumeration and Entry applicants and the Railroad Retirement Board - all applicants will receive a number at random from the entire range of SSNs."

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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: Pennsylvania government agencies cannot charge time for fulfilling public records requests

"Government agencies cannot charge people seeking public records for the time agency employees spend complying with requests made under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law in certain cases, a state Commonwealth Court panel has ruled.

Upholding the state Office of Open Records in a pair of similar cases, the panel on Nov. 4 said the State Employees’ Retirement System cannot recover the cost of employees’ labor in creating documents tailored to specific requests because the same information was available — in a less organized and less convenient form — in records that already existed."  
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Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator