I recently came across this site run by a group called ___. (I am not referring to their address as I don't approve of the concept). Basically they do a deep web search for people, namely "you", (and me), and just start building a profile about you, (and me). They only access information that is publicly available and then present it here as a profile about "you". As their web site says :

"..[web-site name] is not just about finding more results; we are using advanced language-analysis and ranking algorithms to bring you the most relevant bits of information about a person in a single, easy-to-read results page..."

Now, this search claims to be 500 times more effective than your google/Yahoo/MSN because there is deep data on the internet is not really looked at by the major search engines. Now although the information is publicly available, I still find it invasive that someone has gone to the trouble to produce a search engine that can really drill for information about me (and you) without any notice/warning/specific purpose. Even though I have never signed up, agreed to, or actively participated with them, they "kindly" produced a profile about me. They're just out there trawling for information about anything that resembles the identity of a human being. hmmm...

They do provide a facility to remove your profile, which I have done for myself already. Well, I don't mind that my public data footprint is scattered across the internet. I can't really see much value though in collating information about me into one place on the internet which is more precise than any other search engine. Their value proposition in justifying their site :

"..There are various reasons why you might need to search for people, you may need to find a lost relative, an old flame, a classmate or a business contact - but if you are using a search engine such as Google or Yahoo to search for people, you have probably realized by now that it might work in some cases but in most cases it won't.

How come the best search engines fail so miserably when it comes to people search? The answer lies in a little known but very important part of the web called "the deep web"..."....."

Which I find largely irrelevant as I can generally work out how to look for people using google and the current flavour of reunion sites already out there, but if I was really keen on identity fraud then this is a great place to begin and start hacking sites...So on behalf of all those identity fraudsters in the thrid world and emerging countries looking to steal information, thanks a bunch, this will make our job just that bit easier....

Now, if I don't want to be a total party pooper about this, they should install some level of security by only allowing you to do searches if you are registered. This will at least provide some level of traceability by knowing who is searching for who, rather than letting any goose through the data without checks for potential malicious use.

(if you want to know which site this is, please leave comments or contact me directly and I will get back to you).