It is generally recommended that you review your credit report on a regular basis to ensure that no erroneous information appears and to identify any attempts at fraud so that your credit remains in good standing. With a rise in identity theft and easy access to information via the Internet, you may need to review more than just your credit. MyPublicInfo.com offers a Public Information Profile (PIP) which you can use to fix any issues and correct erroneous information to protect your identity.
About The PIP
- What Is A PIP?
A Public Information Profile (PIP) is a detailed summary of information available to others about you. MyPublicInfo sifts through Federal, State and County records, financial records like bankruptcies, liens and judgments, property ownership records, government-issued and other licenses, law enforcement records on felony and misdemeanor convictions, and UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) records. MyPublicInfo assembles this data into a simplified report. -
Why Should I Get A PIP?
A PIP can help you in two main areas — allowing you to see public records that are attributable to your name- that is to see what companies or individuals see when they order a background check on you, and for you to identify possible cases of identity theft where the thief's goal is to impersonate you, to use your identity to buy or rent a house, get a business license, or commit a crime in your name. - Can Someone Else Get My PIP?
No. MyPublicInfo's relationships with data sources are regulated by strict Federal laws. In addition to providing basic personal information, anyone attempting to purchase their PIP must pass a test which requires personal knowledge that cannot be simply acquired by, say, stealing or finding a lost wallet.
Purchasing a PIP
You can purchase a PIP from MyPublicInfo.com for $79.95. Once the PIP report is generated, you will have access to view the information for 6 months. The report provides details in 8 major categories such as Address History, Real Estate, Criminal Record or Professional Licenses.Each section of the PIP provides a brief explanation of the details reported there as well as a link you can use if you identify any erroneous information that you would like to correct or remove.
MyPublicInfo claims to be working on a service that would also monitor your information somehow and alert you when changes occur to your PIP data, but no details are yet available about how that service will work or what it will cost.
My PIP Review
- My PIP Report
I ordered a copy of my PIP. It dug up an impressive amount of information going back quite a few years. The report is broken into sections such as Address History, Real Estate, Bankruptcies, Liens and Judgments, and Professional Licenses. It was interesting to see just how much information is available about me just through publicly available records, but the value of the PIP isn't in verifying your known information, but in ensuring that no false information exists. Mine contained one address listed in my history which I am familiar with, but never lived at. Aside from that I did not find anything "suspicious" on my PIP. - Information Overload?
MyPublicInfo scans through over 10 billion public records to compile a PIP. The resulting report has a lot of information, but much of it is redundant and much of it is irrelevant. Because they search various sources, the same address or financial history may be reported from more than one source, leading to redundant information. The PIP also searches for various combinations close to your name and may result in information that doesn't really pertain to you, but could be linked to you. That result is a lot of detailed information, much of which is irrelevant to you.
Summary
It would have been nice if they included a field asking for nicknames or aliases. Perhaps they are hoping I will buy two reports? My full name is Anthony, but I most commonly go by Tony. I got my PIP based on Anthony because that is what is posted on real estate or financial records. However, there is also a section which digs through the Internet for references to you and mine turned up plenty of Anthony Bradley info that wasn't related to me. Searching Tony Bradley would be entirely different. Someone with knowledge of my personal information such as my Social Security Number would be able to steal my identity using Tony Bradley just as easily as Anthony Bradley so the PIP should report on both names in order to be thorough.The report itself is a little cumbersome to navigate, displaying the entire report essentially as a single web page. There are some links to take you back to the top, but they are few and far between and viewing the report basically amounts to a lot of scrolling.
Protecting your identity is important and a report like the PIP can help. With the few changes I suggested, I think that this information can be quite valuable, but I feel that $50 would be a more reasonable fee than $80 for a service like this.
