ABSTRACT
Introduction Thousands of websites offer access to government records and other types of public information compiled by agencies, nonprofits, news organizations, and commercial enterprises. Investigators should remember that, as with other published materials, verification is necessary before accepting any record as fact and before assuming that when a record is not found in an online database, it does not exist. In all probability, even a thorough search will not include absolutely every database or reference that could contain a reference to the subject. However, by maintaining an up-todate, complete list of uniform resource locators (URLs) for potential searches, the analyst can credibly assert that a search was as thorough as possible. Not all government and commercial records are offered online, not all online records are offered free, and it is not always possible to obtain identifiable records because many repositories offer only a name to match, without other identifying data to verify that it is the same person as the subject.
