Personal information

kkelly77

How easy is it for a solicitor to acquire a private individual's personal information e.g home address etc.? Assuming the only information that they have is first name, possibly surname, mobile number and possibly even car registration.

Peregrinus

kkelly77 wrote: »

How easy is it for a solicitor to acquire a private individual's personal information e.g home address etc.? Assuming the only information that they have is first name, possibly surname, mobile number and possibly even car registration.

Well, they probably have more information than you are suggesting. There will be some reason as to why they are interested in the individual - he's involved in an employment dispute, or a motor accident, or a family row, or whatever. So, depending on the context, the solicitor will know where the individual works, or who he is related to, or the neighbourhood that he frequents, or whatever. There'll be something more than you have suggested so far.

But, even if there isn't, with a name and surname I can look up the phone book, can't I? Depending on how common the name is, that will narrow the field considerably. With a car registration I check who the owner of the car is, and where he is registered as living. I can check the electoral register. I can do a spot of googling. You don't need to be a solicitor to do any of these things, and they're perfectly legal.

Your home address is personal information, but it's not normally private. Even in pre-internet days it was generally fairly easy to find out where someone lived; just ask around.

berrypendel

Peregrinus wrote: »

With a car registration I check who the owner of the car is.

where do you check that legally?

ResearchWill

berrypendel wrote: »

where do you check that legally?

If you have a legit reason then this may help. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1958/en/si/0013.html#zzsi13y1958a17

berrypendel

ResearchWill wrote: »

If you have a legit reason then this may help. http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1958/en/si/0013.html#zzsi13y1958a17

Is it still the local motor tax or shannon? The link says payment of one shilling. I think years ago itwas a fiver from local motor tax office. Local as in local to where the car was regd, maybe i am wrong there.

Just as a curiosity what would they consider a legit reason. If someone wanted to find me from my car reg what would be a reason enough for the relevant authority?

ResearchWill

berrypendel wrote: »

Is it still the local motor tax or shannon? The link says payment of one shilling. I think years ago itwas a fiver from local motor tax office. Local as in local to where the car was regd, maybe i am wrong there.

Just as a curiosity what would they consider a legit reason. If someone wanted to find me from my car reg what would be a reason enough for the relevant authority?

My own personal view in light of data protection Act etc. is that any official would refuse and say the request should come from AGS but that's only my personal view. I have no idea what would happen in reality as I have never had reason to ask.

berrypendel

ResearchWill wrote: »

My own personal view in light of data protection Act etc. is that any official would refuse and say the request should come from AGS but that's only my personal view. I have no idea what would happen in reality as I have never had reason to ask.

I wonder if the authority would ask the person first? I never asked either but remember someone telling me it was fiver but that was before data protection

Peregrinus

berrypendel wrote: »

. . . Just as a curiosity what would they consider a legit reason. If someone wanted to find me from my car reg what would be a reason enough for the relevant authority?

Well, if he's a solicitor and he want to serve you with court papers - a writ, a summons - then that's a legitimate reason. There's a public interest in the efficient administration of justice.

Holsten

Depends on the info they have really.

So first name... hard, with surname it get's easier...

Phone info it depends on operator, etc..

A car registration number would be the easiest, with your reg I can get pretty much all your info as far as I know with the likes of cartell.ie, providing you're willing to pay for it.

Tom Young

The most blindingly obvious place to trace is the electoral register or the phone book. Far from rocket science, publicly available and generally free to access. More complex traces can be carried out by other means.

Reloc8

Electoral Register, phone book, CRO (if there are Directorships) or businesses, and that's just from stuff that is immediately accessible.