Shore Up Your Identity-Theft Safeguards

At MyPublicInfo.com, you can get an expensive ($79.95) but comprehensive rundown on where your name and Social Security number appear -- together or separately -- on numerous public databases. That includes those kept by government agencies at the federal, state and local level; court databases around the country, including records of bankruptcies, liens and judgments; law-enforcement records for felony and misdemeanor convictions; unclaimed asset databases of almost every state; up to 20 years of address history from phone books and credit bureaus; and much, much more.

This is not a service you can use to spy on your neighbor, boyfriend or ex-wife. To gain online access to your Public Information Profile, or PIP, report, you have to provide answers to specific questions that wouldn't be known to someone who stole your wallet.

When I ordered my PIP report, I was shocked in many ways. First, it took only minutes to generate a voluminous report. Could it really be that easy to find so much information? The process is so sophisticated that it has been patented.

Second, the PIP had details about my life that I never imagined were in public records, such as previous addresses (including office addresses) and phone numbers. It found my investment adviser registrations and corporate board member filings over the years. And it detailed how many shares I own in my cooperative apartment building.