Maybe you’re a stalker, or maybe you just want to know what personal information about you can be found on the Web. Either way, you’ll be surprised at the information that’s available. Just follow these steps:

1. Visit the stalker search site: 123 People, Pipl, and my favorite, WebMii (shown above). They all did a good job of finding me (though some of the pictures and links were for other people with my name). WebMii is fun because it gives you a score based on how famous you (or your name) are.

2. Visit Google (or another big search engine) and search for the person’s name in quotes (for example, “John Doe”). If Google yields too many results because the person has a common name, add the person’s state, town, spouses name, pets name, type of car, interests, or anything else that might distinguish them from people with the same name. Here’s what you’re looking for in the results:

• Anything interesting about the person.
• The person’s employer (often names are mentioned in press releases or on the company’s website).
• The town the person lives in (many towns post public records online).
• E-mail addresses the person uses (you’ll see these in forums/message boards/newsgroups sometimes).
• Aliases the person uses. For example, if you find a message in a forum signed with the person’s name, look at the nickname used to create the message. Make note of it.

3. Repeat Step 1, but search for other versions of the person’s name. For example, you should search for both “John Doe and “Johnnie”. Then, search for “John J. Joe” and “Johnnie J. Joe”.

4. Now, use Google to search for the person’s e-mail addresses and aliases. After searching for their full e-mail, drop the @ and everything after it. For example, if their e-mail address is SandiDog2005@hotmail.com, search for “SandiDog2005″. People often use their username on websites, so you might find messages that they’ve written in a forum. As you’re digging, make note of the person’s interest. If they have a Huffy bike, write that down. If they drive a Volvo XC90, make note of that. Names of pets, spouses, and friends are useful–especially if they’re unique or nicknames.

5. If you haven’t found anything useful yet, don’t be discouraged–there’s still a lot of digging to do. Most sensible people try and protect their privacy by not using their full names on the Web. So, let’s search for their first name and combinations of their interests, friends, and location. For example, you might search for “tony xc90 springfield” or “sandi spot fido cycling” (without the quotes).

6. Nowadays, Google only has a fairly small part of the Web indexed. Take the search to some more specific websites:

• Facebook. Sign in and search for the person. Because of Facebook’s new privacy settings, you can often view quite a bit about a person without being their friend.
• LinkedIn. If you make yourself an account, you can find where people have worked and where they went to school.
• MySpace. Click People at the top of the page and search for their name. Then, search for any aliases.
• Newsgroups. People use forums more than newsgroups nowadays, but sometimes you’ll find stuff people wrote ten years ago before they knew to hide their names.
• Wedding registries. If the person has gotten married since, say, 2000, they’re probably registered at places like Crate & Barrel, Bed Bath & Beyond, or Target (which also has a baby registry, if they had a kid recently). Also, check The Knot. It’s funny to see what people asked for.
• Others. Their are countless other websites people might participate in, like Digg, StumbleUpon, CraigsList, Yahoo, AOL Instant Messenger, BlogSpot, MSN, etc. Often, these aren’t indexed by Google, but you can find something if you’re patient enough to search at the individual sites.

7. It’s time for the public records! Start by looking up their address. They might be listed under a spouse’s name.

8. Now, it’s time to get creepy. Look up pictures of their house at http://www.bing.com/maps/. Don’t forget to switch to both the satellite and aerial views (check out all the angles), if they’re available. In case you’re stalking me, here are some pictures of my previous house. Google Maps sometimes has better satellite images, depending on the location.

9. Look up their address at Zillow. It gives you an estimate of what their house is worth, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and such, and a list of what the house sold for if it sold recently. You can even find out what they pay in annual taxes.

And I saved the best for last:

10. Most areas have public records accessible from the Web, for better or worse. Typically, each county or state has its own website. To find that website, Google “county state public records” or “county state real estate records”. If you don’t know their county, google “city state county” and see what comes up, or just Google the city instead of the county. Real estate records are often the most interesting, and will reveal how much a person paid for their house, how much they put down vs. what they mortgaged, and often you can find a copy of their closing paperwork (including their signatures). Some places don’t have much available online.

Public records have actually gotten more difficult to access in recent years. For example, you used to be able to find anyone’s birthday at AnyBirthday.com, but that’s mostly offline now.

You’ll find lots of sites that promise to find information about someone for you. All I’ve tried is an address lookup service, which worked okay, but for a few bucks more you can hire an actual investigator.

Well, if you have another technique or website, or a good way to protect your own privacy, add a comment.