You probably met someone at an event but did not exchange numbers. Or, for some reason, you need to find and old high school acquaintance. Maybe you found someone that can be a perfect candidate for your company, but you only know their current place of employment. In a time in which we all have a digital footprint, limited information is not an obstacle to find someone. The internet is full of resources that can make the search easier. From a simple Google search to social media to premium services, there are a lot of options to choose from.
Understanding Privacy
Before going all-in in a search, you need to understand that there are laws to protect privacy. A person lookup may seem harmless, but if you are not careful, you may even be breaking the law. The first thing you need to clarify is your own reasons for looking someone up. One thing is to try to contact someone you liked at a party and a very different one is to try to find someone who does not want to be found. If this is the case, it would be recommended to stop, unless you have a very critical reason to find them (for example, a health-related reason). Privacy law varies from country to country, and even between states, so try to learn more about what is and what is not allowed in your area. Cyber-stalking is never a good choice.
First Steps
Make a list of the information you do have. Maybe you know the person's hobbies or their line of work. Probably you have the name of their high school, or you know the town where they lived when they were younger. Having a clear departure point will make the search easier, as you can combine data in order to have better results. Create combinations of the information you have. For example the last name and name of the school. Or a hobby and their first name. Try to vary the combinations as much as possible.
Free Resources
There are a lot of alternatives if you don't want to spend money on your search:
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Google. From a name search to an image search, the giant search engine is always the first option. Even when you don't get exact information, you may obtain valuable clues to continue your search.
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Social Media. Because of privacy settings, some profiles may not appear in a Google Search. Try using the search options of each social media platform to go further.
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Yellow Pages. It may be as simple as looking for a phone number or address in the yellow pages. All you need is a full name.
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Craigslist. It offers a section called "Personal - missed connections" that allows you to place a classified-type add that the other person might see and get in touch.
Paid Alternatives
If your first efforts were not fruitful, there are online services that go further. What they do is use algorithms that crawl the internet to find specific data that may not be publicly displayed. If you choose to pay for a service to look up someone, make sure you stay on the safe side and only use sites that fully disclose their credentials, permissions, and certifications. Because of legal regulations, anyone can ask for their information to be removed from people-finding websites, so if after your search, you still find nothing, it might be a warning sign of someone who wishes to remain private. An issue with these services is that they just collect data, so information may not be completely accurate.
Finding someone online with limited information is easier than ever. With a wide array of paid and free alternatives, the chance of success is high.