I express my personal concerns as well as the Michigan Council of Private Investigators. Clearly, Congress was offering a distinction by describing financial information. We would agree, that the Act provides opt-out of information regarding credit history, employment and financial assets.
Private investigators are an important, integral part of the American justice system.
It is not widely understood that investigators are a critical cog in the legal machinery. The information we obtain regarding addresses and phone numbers is essential to our conduct of business and fulfilling our obligations to consumers. We utilize this information to assist in finding witnesses, to confirm addresses given on applications, and to prevent fraud, particularly insurance fraud. A high percentage of crime investigations are worked up by private investigators before being turned over to law enforcement for prosecution because law enforcement lacks the resources. The service of process, which is primarily done by civilian servers, would be devastated by this interpretation.