Online information

10 sites that give out personal information, legally:

•Idaho sex offender list: www.isp.state.id.us/ identification/ sex_offender. This state database is searchable by name, zip code or by county.

•Intelius.com. This paid service based in Seattle offers quick and direct background checks and other services. It also tracks addresses and phone numbers.

•Opensecrets.org. A site that lists campaign contributions both nationally and at the state level. Searchable by name.

•Washington Voter Database: www.soundpolitics.com/ voterlookup.html. This site collects public information on voters, last election voted and address.

•Washington Courts: http://dw.courts.wa.gov. This is Washington’s one-stop site to gather records, both criminal and civil.

•Washington sex offender list: http://ml.waspc.org/ Search.aspx. The state’s sex offender list is searchable by name or address.

• Washington State Patrol crime list: https:// watch.wsp.wa.gov. This paid database allows searches of criminal history by name only, charging $10 per search. It does not return results quickly.

•Washington Public Disclosure Commission: www.pdc.wa.gov/servlet/ ContServlet. This is Washington state’s very useful database for tracking contributions to parties, political groups or candidates. It is searchable by name or candidate.

•Zabasearch.com. This is a free online site that gathers up personal information from Google, Yahoo and dozens of other public Web resources.

•Zillow.com. This is one of the Web’s current favorites; the Seattle-based real estate site shows estimated property values for individual homes or businesses, along with neighborhood characteristics.