I’m not a PI, but I’ve performed oppo and/or defensive research now in 68 political campaigns over the last 11 years. I don’t use tactics like “tailing” people or looking through their trash, though I’ve known a couple who do. But I’m as concerned as Tamara about balancing concerns for privacy with the need to maintain the ability to investigate for legitimate reasons — e.g., they’ve been accused of committing a tort (or criminal offense), or are running for public office and require prior vetting.

There’s a bill right now to strip birthdays out of voter registration files in the Texas Legislature. The concern is out of privacy, but if you did that you’d have dead peopole, children, felons, and God knows who else voting, or worse, have people stripped off the rolls as felons who shouldn’t be. A lot of public information out there about people exists for a reason, and there are legitimate public needs to keep it open. Nobody likes a snoop, until you need one.