The burning question is, what if you apply for a job, but you are asked on a questionaire or verbally “have you ever been convicted of a criminal offense?” You might answer “No” because afterall, your record has been expunged, meaning it’s only available to law enforcement – off limits to everyone else, but later on, your boss calls you into his office and says “You earlier answered no to that question, but upon running an employee background check we found that not to be the case. You were not being truthful.”

The problem is during the period your criminal record was public, it was captured by, or possibly sold to (and many courts do sell them), a commercial database enterprize, essentially making expungment a mute point. What used to be public record at the Clerk of The Court’s records department, but no longer is, has ended up out of their hands, and has come back years later to haunt you, so in a nutshell you’re feeling “I’m S.O.L.!” Your attorney whom you hired at great expense to have it expunged reassured you, that you would have a clean record and a fresh start. In the Internet Age, this is becoming a common problem.

This has raised many ethical questions. What is the best policy? When should public records be kept secret?

They are buying data from the private sector which would normally be difficult for the government to compile themselves, such as consumer habits. Ironically, you would think the Federal Government would be able to dig up this information on their own.

There are certainly law enforcement reasons for digging up this data. Somebody who mail orders large amounts of chemicals, might be operating a Meth lab, or somebody who buys bomb-making materials might be a terrorist. Unusually large electric bills are often a red flag that somebody may be running a large-scale indoor Marijuana cultivation.

Some of these companies use insiders within the phone companies to get ahold of the data. Many use an illegal technique called “pretexting” where they call the phone company, inpersonating a subscriber to fool the service rep into turning over the phone records. Pretexting is certainly nothing new, but online brokers are.

Cell phone records are commonly used by private investigators to spy on a cheating spouse or by creditors attempting to collect unpaid debts. The evidence is not admissible in court, however it can be useful in investigations and tracking down suspects.

How about your financial records. Those can be had for a price too by the wrong people.

According to an AP study, there are about 40 websites on the net who are in the business of selling cell phone numbers, unlisted numbers and phone call records. This can be done by somebody outside law enforcement, and accordingly without a search warrant or court approval.

This is an egregious invasion of your privacy, but unfortunately it’s all too easy.

There are online firms such as Locatecell who are in the business of selling people’s private cell phone records for a price – usually about US$100.00. In today’s world, this invasion of privacy can be dangerous.

Cell phone providers and legislators have pledged a crack down, but it’s apparently not working.

“Cell phone companies are clearly not doing enough to protect personal information.”

In criminal court cases, prosecutors normally have to get a subpoena to obtain a suspect’s cell phone records.

The State of Missouri in fact put in a restraining order to stop Locatecell from doing business in their state. Cingular wireless has sued data collection firms such as Locatecell to cease & desist.

“Here is my sister’s number that is unlisted….The records of who calls me and who I call should be mine. With all do respect, you shouldn’t have your hands on them!”

There are a few things you can do as a consumer to protect your privacy.

Insist your cell phone provider gives you an added layer of password protection. Surprisingly, few cell phone customers are aware this option is available. When choosing a password, pick one that’s impossible to guess, instead of your pet’s name, birthdate, etc..

Industry spokesmen warn that some people are fraudulently posing as wireless company employees in order to obtain private & confidential information from customers.