Gumshoe in cyberspace

poll A lot has been written about private information on the Internet. But is it really that easy to find out everything about anyone you choose? Our intrepid reporter walks us through an unabashedly informal sleuthing expedition in this multimedia NEWS.COM special report.

Reporter gets on the case By Janet Kornblum first person After picking my target, I fired up the search engines. That pointed me to a bunch of other places: fee-based services, commercial research sites, even private investigators online. The results? Click here to find out. The amateur detective By Jeff Quan infographic Depending on what you're looking for, information available online can be broken down in a variety of ways. Here's how this case developed, with links to some basic resources. Social Security equation By Janet Kornblum The government is legally prevented from releasing your Social Security number. But no one else is.