Finding people who have gone missing or are in hiding has never been as easy as it is in 2020. As Technology of all kinds has advanced, so has the ability to keep track of large numbers of people relatively easily. Many people are unaware of how simple locating them or others is, so here is a handy guide to how technology has changed the game.

Location Tracking

Gone are the days of old-fashioned detective work that required talking to acquaintances and physically following subjects to keep tabs on them. Nowadays, most people voluntarily leave evidence of their whereabouts all over the internet. These include public posts on social media, discussion threads where they routinely “check in” and photographs they publish on Facebook or Instagram.

Additionally, most new smartphones have GPS tracking built into them. This is useful for finding your way to the grocery store in an unfamiliar area using Google Maps to track your location in real time and guide you to your destination. However, it is also useful to authorities who wish to locate people in an emergency situation by zeroing in on their phones.

Finding Missing Persons

The practice of Skip Tracing involves the use of technology to establish a subject’s whereabouts. Many companies now hire the services of skip tracers who specialize in this field and are experts at locating people. Tactics that skip tracers use include analyzing financial documents, job applications, tax information, utility bills and, of course, online activity. Skip tracing has evolved into a technological pursuit. Following the rules of effective skip tracing helps debt collectors find those who have tried to bail on their financial responsibilities.

The Amber Alert system is designed to find missing children who have been abducted. This system was first developed in 1996. The government authorities will send text messages, broadcast announcements and put out other communications through the Emergency Alert System to help locate missing children. The system has successfully recovered many of them since its inception.

Face Scanning

People can now be found even without leaving any documents or traces of information behind, most notably by using facial recognition technology in ports of entry like bus stations, airports and train stations. The capability of these systems is rapidly evolving, and now it is possible to pick a subject out of a crowd relatively easily.

As the digital information age rolls on, we’ll likely find even more effective ways to locate lost or missing people.

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