The vast multi-gigabyte databases of the U.S. government - at federal, state and county levels are increasingly being made available to U.S. citizens for Internet based searching.

Who wants to search government records anyway? What are the main uses of these computer archives?

There are hundreds of uses and purposes. For example, HR departments in industry, private enterprise and large corporations - need confirmation and validation of information supplied by people applying for work. Govt departments, too, need to confirm the resumes of prospective public servants.

Imagine you are a property owner or landlord and you have some intuitive doubts about some people who desperately want to rent one of your houses, units or townhouses. You can now get online and run a quick check on what these people have told you. Get their address history, court and criminal records and maybe with permission a fico score and credit history report. Would some of that information be useful to you? I'd say so. I'd reckon.

This is generally the area of background check work or background screening. It is used to uncover aspects of personal history that can point to work experience and to the quality of a person's character.Have they been telling you lies?

How exactly? Address history, court records and criminal records. Files of bankruptcies, liens, property records and of court findings are just a sprinkling of the vast archives that can be searched online using public records.

Large government departments such as DMV - holding motor vehicles registration, driving records, DUI and DWD are making access to files easier thanks to the Age of Information. Similarly, the Social Security Administration allows you to verify a social security number (SSN) for its state and year of issue. Some people want to find a system for reverse SSN lookup but is that legal? Does privacy conflict with the Freedom of Information Act? Don't be guilty of breaching specific privacy laws.

Some classes of government information are only made available to law enforcement agents engaged in an ongoing investigation. Even they do not have unfettered access to the information.

Finally, there are types of information that are provided only by the private sector. Banking records, credit card usage, telephone call records and such are non-government and private info by definition. You cannot find out everything about anyone, as those detective sites from the 1996 era claim!

But you can spend long hours searching U.S. government records databases online from the relative privacy and security of your home office computer. Another reason to stay in front of the screen? Hey - go for another 30 minute walk to keep your body in good shape first, then delve into those reverse look ups and complete background reports using The Internet.