Data Brokers Data brokers compile billions of public records on individuals, including information on property, vehicles, professional licenses, neighbors, relatives and more. Financial records, access to which are restricted under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, ordinarily are not available. The various data brokers have different offerings and different price structures. Some require special software, others utilize standard communications software or are available via the Internet. When opening an account with a broker make certain that all information they offer is truly public and legally acquired.
Free searches provide basic information on companies, with links to additional on-line sources.
These profiles are a way to research thousands of businesses, including officer names, general business information, payment patterns, debts, liens, and judgments, etc. Both are available on CompuServe. Stockmaster is just one. The American Journalism Review, a journalism trade magazine, maintains a Web site which lists the on-line addresses hundreds of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations. Some journals permit full-text searching of their archives via their Web sites.