For better of for worse, I have been a licensed investigator in
Texas for over 25 years. During that time I have seen a lot of
changes, the good the bad, the ugly. I can remember when having
a self correcting typewriter in your office was considered high
tech! Now, having established that I am one of the "old timers,"
I used to bitch about it, let's take a look at what is happening
to our industry today.
If I had told you five years ago that you would see the day when it would be illegal to smoke in a public building, or that the car air conditioning would be ruled illegal, you would have told me I was already approaching galloping senility. But it came about folks! Not all in one shot, first it became law that you had to have a smoking area in your building, and then you couldn't purchase your own air conditioning refrigerant unless you were a certified technician. Now, you must smoke "outside" the building, and eventually you will not be able to have any of the old style air conditioning systems. Now there are similar regulations for your home air conditioning units!
We are faced with people like Senator Feinstien (D Ca.) who
are trying to eliminate access to motor vehicle records and financial
information, even use of the internet. They have already made
it illegal to pretext banks and other financial institutions.
The FTC has by an administrative decision, not passed a law, said
it is now necessary to tell someone they are being investigated
for allegations of possible sexual harassment and if they won't
sign a release you can not conduct the investigation!
Obviously, not all of the proposed legislation will become law,
but in some amended form they will get passed and that's what's
scary.
Little by little the legislators are taking away our freedoms,
including the right to access information that we legitimately
need to do our job. It is obvious that we cannot allow total public
access to everyone (there really are stalkers, serial killers
and just plain whackos who abuse the information), but there are
many legitimate needs for this information and we can not afford
to let this access be denied.
This is not something you can afford to let "the other guy" do, you must do your part! Send an Email, write a letter, make a phone call, vote, let our Senators know what you think and why.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence feared the concept of a tyranical government that would intrude on our basic rights and took great measures to protect against that, it was called "The Bill Of Rights." Little by little, those rights are being eroded. AS one of our early patriots said, "If we don't hang together, they will most assuredly hang us one at a time."