Private Investigator News: Google drops reverse phone number lookup

"One of the earliest specialist services provided by Google was reverse phone number lookup. If you used the “phonebook:” or “rphonebook:” operators together with a 10-digit US phone number, Google would show you the owner of that phone number, unless the number was unlisted."

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

Private Investigator News: U.S. Marshals Service explains mug shot release

"In 1996, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati (6th Cir.) held in Detroit Free Press v. Dep't of Justice that mug shots must be released. Since that ruling, the Marshals Service has been releasing mug shots to requesters that reside within the Sixth Circuit's jurisdiction.

Gonzales insisted that the Marshals Service has no position on the issue of releasing mug shots. 'Personally, we don't care if they're released,' he said. The decision on whether to release the photographs is a matter or policy and law.

'We are generally forbidden to release [mug shots],' he said. 'We must abide by the law.'"

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

Private Investigator News: Google bumps up more high-quality sites in search results

"Many of the changes we make are so subtle that very few people notice them. But in the last day or so we launched a pretty big algorithmic improvement to our ranking—a change that noticeably impacts 11.8% of our queries—and we wanted to let people know what’s going on. This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on."

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

Private Investigator News: Consumer lawsuits challenge online data brokers

"NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters Legal) - Two lawsuits in federal court in California that challenge the way a popular online data-mining company does business could give consumers more privacy protection from firms that sell personal information on the Web.

In the most recent complaint, filed last week in the Central District of California, plaintiff Thomas Robins alleged that Spokeo Inc. violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by offering false data about individuals without giving them the chance to correct or remove inaccurate reports."

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

Private Investigator News: Maine counties overcharging on access to public records

"A Cumberland businessman has won a Superior Court case against six Maine counties for violation of the state’s public access law and for overcharging fees for copies of public records.

The court’s ruling sets a new standard for what Maine government can charge for copies of public records."

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

Private Investigator News: Tennessee county may charge a fee to digitize records

"Bedford County will study whether to begin charging a $5 'record creation fee' at some county offices, in order to begin building up funds to digitize older county records.

Once those older records have been digitized, the county hopes they will provide a revenue stream as genealogists and other researchers pay to access them online."

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

Private Investigator News: California court rules employers can access private email

"California Court of Appeal rules that employers may access employee e-mail on company computer, including e-mail to an employee’s personal attorney"

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

Private Investigator News: Employee Facebook postings protected in some cases

"An ambulance company, American Medical Response (AMR), fired an employee after she was caught criticizing her supervisor on Facebook. In response to a complaint from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against AMR in which it alleged the firing was illegal because the employee's Facebook posting constituted a "concerted activity" for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection with other employees which is a protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and that AMR's policies and procedures regarding blogging, Internet posting and communications between employees were overly broad." Read more
Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: 11th Circuit: misdirected auto-dialed debt collection calls don’t violate Telephone Consumer Protection Act

"A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that auto-dialed calls made by a debt collector did not violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), even though they went to an individual who did not owe the debts triggering the calls." Read more
Location Oakland, Ca | San Francisco, Ca | California - Private Investigator

Private Investigator News: MD Backs Down After ACLU Threatens to Sue Maryland over Social Media Policy

"The state Division of Corrections (DOC) backed down Tuesday after the Maryland branch of the American Civil Liberties Union threatened to take legal action if the government agency did not rescind a policy asking for the login information to job applicants' social networking website accounts.

DOC suspended the policy allowing interviewers to ask job applicants if they use any social media and use the applicant's login information to scan the account for posts, emails, photographs or other information to ensure that the candidate is not involved in illegal activity or connected with a gang, said Deborah Jeon, the legal director for the ACLU of Maryland."

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

Pennsylvania widens search function on Megan's Law website

"The searchable database of registered sex offenders in Pennsylvania has been changed to make it easier for users who want to focus on a geographic area, state police said Wednesday.

The revamped Megan’s Law website now lets users search for offenders who live or attend school within a half-mile to five miles of a given location."

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

Private Investigator News: Pa. court orders addresses of 911 calls must be released

"A Pennsylvania appeals court held Wednesday that the destination addresses -- or nearby cross streets -- linked with 911 time response reports must be released under state public records laws. The ruling in York County v. Pennsylvania Office of Open Records overturns a lower court decision that held that the state Office of Open Records was wrong to order the addresses released."

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

Private Investigator News: Social Media: A Multi-Purpose Investigation and Profit-Making Tool

"“Tweeting’s for the birds,” a private investigator recently griped. “No way you’re gonna catch me on Twitter.”

If I told him Twitter, and other social networking sites, could attract new clients, aid finding people and evidence, as well as professionally brand his business, think he’d re-think his stance?"

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

Private Investigator News: Police Test App That Instantly Reveals Criminal Records

"The SafetyNet Mobile Insight app enables an officer to point an iPhone’s camera at a location, and using the phone’s GPS to bring up the address, check the law enforcement history or officer safety hazard information of the location in question — within seconds of getting a 911 call."

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

Private Investigator News: Criminal case against Craft’s investigator dismissed | Chattanooga Times Free Press

From Francie Koehler, host of PI's Declassified:

"Georgia Private Investigator Eric Echols who appeared on PI's Declassified!January 20, *No Justice in Cootusa County*(http://pisdeclassified.com/2011/01)
has received word that the county will not pursue further charges against him.

Eric was indicted in July 2009 for influencing a witness while he was working on the high profile Tonya Craft case. Tonya Craft was acquitted in May 2010. Last fall, every judge in Cootusa County recused themselves in the case against Eric, but the charges against Eric were finally dismissed by a judge in a nearby county. However . . . the prosecutor still had the option of refiling the charges within 4 years.

Eric just received a letter from the Cootusa County prosecutor that all charges have been dismissed! See article abstract below. Justice has finally been served
It has been a trying time for Eric and I am sure you will want to join me in wishing him congratulations. Send Eric a personal note. His email is in the cc line."

From the Chattanooga Times:
"The criminal charges against former North Georgia elementary school teacher Tonya Craft’s private investigator were dismissed today.

Eric Echols, who was charged with trying to influence a witness in Craft’s criminal case, said he received a letter that his charges were dismissed.

“Today is a great day,” Echols said today in an e-mail."

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

Private Investigator News: Nevada County Recorder restricts website information

"After Nevada County's Clerk-Recorder removed some information off the county's website, other county offices may need to do the same.

Clerk-Recorder Greg Diaz pulled recorded maps off the county's website in December because they conflicted with a state law prohibiting counties from posting any information someone could use to determine the home locations of elected officials, law enforcement officers and people serving government appointments.

Some professionals in the surveying business took issue with Diaz' interpretation of the law, saying it was too restrictive and removed from the free database information they needed. The maps are now available for a $235 fee from the Clerk-Recorder's office."

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

Private Investigator News: California juror ordered to turnover Facebook posts

"A California judge has ordered a juror to turn over Facebook messages he posted during the trial of several alleged gang members.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said on Feb. 4 that Arturo Ramirez could face jail time if he doesn't give Facebook permission to disclose the postings within 10 days.

Defense attorneys had requested the disclosure to determine whether Ramirez was influenced by any outside communication."

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

Private Investigator Research Links – Jan 2011 http://ping.fm/jumwz

ThompsonPI: Using the the “Tilde” (~) operator in Google real-time search: http://bit.ly/i128Dy http://ping.fm/WckZG

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness -- Volunteers Around the World http://ping.fm/oSdcr

SMS Spoofing Number http://ping.fm/abZ1q

Private Investigator News: Lenders required to verify employment through third-parties

"The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 includes language that would require lenders to use an independent, third-party source for verifications of employment and income – no exceptions. After the recent rash of foreclosures and loan repurchases, the industry was already moving in that direction.

How do you achieve third party sourcing for all verifications? The answer, now, is The Work Number.

As many of you know, The Work Number has been expanding the scope of employer coverage in stages. We currently can retrieve verifications for any employer, even those not included in our database. Early this year, we added solutions for verification of the self-employed."

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

Private Investigator News: Request for candidate’s college degree requires authorization? : First Amendment Coalition

"I emailed a PRA request to a Cal State admissions office regarding a degree granted to someone running for the local city council. I received the following reply:"

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

Private Investigator News: California State legislator pushes for historic public access to juvenile dependency courts statewide

"Marking a dramatic shift in the scrutiny of how California protects its most vulnerable children, the courts overseeing the state's vast foster care system would be open to the public for the first time since 1961, under legislation now working its way through the state Assembly.

Proponents, including the state's most influential juvenile court judges, say the exposure will improve performance by allowing outsiders to view and evaluate the quality of proceedings in the courts that decide the fate of more than 58,000 children in foster care last year who were removed from their homes following allegations of abuse and neglect. The change would bring California in line with a growing number of states nationwide that have opened their courts and found no reason to return to confidentiality standards."

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

Private Investigator News: Study: municipal clerks confused about records laws

"Municipal clerks in New Jersey reported a lack of understanding of their legal obligations under the state Open Public Records Act, a study from Monmouth University published Jan. 31 found. The study also found that clerks have seen an increase in records requests in recent years."

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

Private Investigator News: Emails sent by employee to attorney from company computer may not be privileged *

"On January 13, 2011, in Holmes v. Petrovich Development Company, LLC, a California Court of Appeal ruled that emails sent by an employee to her attorney from a company computer were not privileged. Based on this ruling, the court affirmed a jury verdict for the employer on Holmes’s claims for invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The court also affirmed the trial court’s ruling summarily adjudicating claims for hostile work environment harassment, constructive discharge, and retaliation in favor of the employer."

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

Private Investigator Research Links - Jan 2011

* Council on Governmental Ethics Laws Member Organizations
* Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness -- Volunteers Around the World
* 100 Google Search Tricks
* Treasury Hunt - US government "provides information on Series E bonds issued in 1974 and after. "
* OSHA Enforcements - OSHA enforcement inspections by the name of the establishment.
* Veterans Grave Locator
* Audio with slideshows

Links are here. RSS for all links

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