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The Data Trail

Terms of use

Updated

These terms apply when you read The Data Trail or use its checks. By using the site, you agree to them. We have kept them short and in plain English.

Our guides explain how personal data, public records and privacy laws work in general. They are not legal advice, and reading them does not make anyone our client. Laws differ from state to state and country to country, agencies change their forms, and your situation may turn on facts we cannot see. For a decision that matters (a court filing, a dispute with a lender, a safety plan), talk to a lawyer, a legal aid office or the agency involved.

We do not look people up

The Data Trail does not search for people, sell reports or remove listings on anyone's behalf. Please do not ask us to find a person or their details, because we will not answer those requests. You may not use anything on the site to locate, track, harass or threaten another person.

Using the checks

The checks run in your browser and are free to use for yourself, your family and your work. They give estimates and drafts, not guarantees. A password that scores well can still be exposed in someone else's breach, and a request letter is a starting point that you should read and adjust before you send it. Use the letter builder only for requests about your own information, or for someone who has asked you to act for them.

Acceptable use

When you use the site, please do not:

  • try to break into, overload or disrupt it, or probe the staff sign-in page;
  • copy the site in bulk with automated tools in a way that slows it down for other readers;
  • send spam, threats or other people's personal information through the contact form;
  • pretend to be us, or suggest that we vouch for you or your business.

Accuracy

We check our facts against primary sources and date every page. Even so, opt-out forms move, rules change and mistakes happen. Information on the site is offered as it stood on the date shown. If you spot an error, tell us through the contact form and we will look into it.

Some links are affiliate links to Amazon and to partner services we join through CJ (Commission Junction). If you buy something or sign up after clicking one, we may earn a commission, and it does not change what you pay. Your purchase is between you and the seller, under the seller's terms. We are not responsible for a partner's products, service or support.

We link to agencies, courts, registries, statutes and company pages so you can check our sources. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, whether they stay online or how they handle your information. Read their own policies before you share anything with them.

Our content

The text, images and checks on The Data Trail belong to us. You are welcome to link to any page, share it, print it for your own use and quote short passages with a link back to the source. Please do not republish whole articles, or copy the checks onto another site, without asking us first.

Limits on our liability

We provide the site as it is, without a promise that it will always be available or free of errors. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for losses that come from using the site or relying on it, including a missed deadline, a rejected request or a decision made on the strength of a guide. Nothing in these terms takes away rights that the law where you live gives you and does not let anyone waive.

Privacy

How we handle information, including what the contact form keeps and how to have it deleted, is set out in our privacy policy.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we change the date at the top of this page. If you keep using the site after a change, the new version applies.

Contact

Questions about these terms go through the same contact form as everything else. We do not publish a postal address, a phone number or an email address, and the form reaches the whole team.