When investigators or businesses skip trace, they have to be aware of the laws in their respective countries or states. When someone skip traces, they are looking for a missing individual for many reasons including debt collection, court appearance, real estate purposes, asset recovery and more. The information skip tracers use is private and since it is uncovered without the consent of individuals, it needs to be handled with care. 

What information do businesses skip trace? 

When businesses and their investigators skip trace, they are looking to confirm some personal information that will help them identify an individual’s whereabouts. The personal information could be: 

  • The full name
  • Date of birth
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • Social media accounts 
  • Home address

Of the individual they are looking for. To find all the necessary data, investigators may search in:

  • Public records: Including court, property ownership, marriage and divorce records
  • Online presence: Online forums, social media posts, blogs or other people’s profiles
  • Personal contacts: Family and friends as well as colleagues and neighbours
  • Utility records: Water, electricity and gas bills as well as phone bills and subscription services
  • Employment records: Current and past employers 
  • Vehicle records: Vehicle registration and ownership and driver’s licence information

While a lot of this data is publicly available, some of it is not. This is where ethical and legal considerations come into play when obtaining this data that may need the investigator to dig deeper to collect it.

Legal limitations for skip tracers

The laws and regulations that apply to skip tracers vary a lot by country. 

United States

In the US, most skip-tracing activities are legal. However, some laws to be aware of include:

  • Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA): This Act applies to debt collection companies that hire investigators to skip trace as a means to receive money owed to them. The act prohibits debt collectors from using unfair or deceptive means to retrieve debts.
  • Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): This law is relevant to investigators who will be looking at credit reports to skip trace an individual. The law outlines how credit reports are recorded, discusses privacy concerns about consumers’ information, and specifies who and how someone can access that information. 
  • Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA): The Act governs the personal information of drivers, including their driver licence and social security number (SSN). It prohibits misuse of their data and disclosure of licence information to third parties. So if an investigator is looking at using someone’s driver licence to get more information, they must do so in a way that does not breach the law. 
  • Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act: Created in 1999, this law controls how financial institutions deal with consumers’ personal data. It requires these institutions to have security programs in place to protect their clients’ information. The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act prohibits organisations from sharing or trying to obtain financial details in a misleading manner. 
skip trace

Canada

In Canada, laws do not prohibit skip organisations that skip trace. Canada only governs how skip tracers handle personal information. The laws that apply are:

  • Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA): The Act covers how private organisations collect, use and disclose personal information for commercial purposes. 
  • Collection and Debt Settlement Services Act: This Act applies to debt collector organisations that skip trace to collect money from debtors. It explains the requirements around how often debt collectors reach out to individuals, reasonable purposes and actions allowed.


Australia

The reason that individuals, as well as companies, need to be careful when they skip trace in Australia is because it can become very expensive, very quickly, Especially in countries like Australia where the penalties for breaching the Privacy Act are frequently reviewed and can now reach $50 million dollars. Australia can be very strict when it comes to private information. Here are some laws organisations need to be familiar with:

  • Privacy Act 1988: The Privacy Act 1988 outlines how individuals’ personal information is collected, used and stored. It also covers how personal details are disclosed to organisations. The aim of the act is to prevent misuse of information and as mentioned, breaching the act can be very expensive for both individuals and businesses. 
  • The Australian Privacy Principles (APPs): In Australia there are principles that lay out the expectations around how debt collectors use personal information to collect owned money. One of its main goals is to prevent debt collectors from misusing personal information.
  • Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC): This is not a law, but Australia’s competition regulator requires debt collectors to contact individuals only for reasonable purposes. It also prohibits illegal behaviour such as abuse, coercion and harassment.

Europe

The European Union can be slightly more complicated as it includes different countries. Each country may have its own laws surrounding skip tracers but the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is what covers the continent as a whole. The regulations govern how data is processed and for what reason, ensuring that the rights of individuals are protected at all stages. 

Adding on to that, similarly to Canada, the US and Australia, countries within the European union have rules that outline the expectations and requirements for debt collectors. 

Organisations can skip trace but with limitations

Businesses or individuals who skip trace need to be familiar with their local laws. Skip tracing is legal for the most part but the common denominator is how information is used, collected and handled. If investigators do not handle personal information with care, then the organisation can be in legal trouble. 

Debt collectors face stricter laws but skip tracing for different reasons, such as finding a loved one or a witness for a case, is a mostly safe practice. 

Across all countries skip tracing is legal as long as there is no abusive behaviour, harassment or coercion when obtaining information to find an individual. As long as businesses collect information through authorised means and they avoid being deceptive, they are doing everything right.  Beyond that, there are ethical considerations that investigators may consider, such as gathering only the required data and not excessively.