How does one go about finding if the government has a file on you?

[Skidmore]

[NashVegas]

1. FOIA

File one with the FBI for any info they have on you.

[goddess40]

2. but if this admin. ishalf as corrupt as I think it is, they'll just lie

but it's sure worth a shot.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Being properly paranoid, I've worried that the FBI will start a file on me

if I ask and a file doesn't already exist.

[Bonhomme Richard]

4. LOL, I thought the moment I ask is when they start one. n/t

[cornermouse]

8. lol

That was my first thought.

[bowens43]

5. That only works with law abiding administrations.

[slackmaster]

16. Yes, unless you are on a "terrorism watch list"

I know the FBI has a file on me. They have three complete sets of fingerprints plus photos. I have a US Passport, a Federal Firearms License, once had a military security clearance, and was for many years a bank employee.

[INdemo]

6. I doubt that is possible ..

Its probably one of those situations where only God and the organization spying on you know..I would be willing to bet that some Senators and Congressmen have had their phones tapped and even back during the Campaign, whereas the Kerry headquarters phone calls and emails were intercepted..Think about it.
There are probably Mafia members in prison for for committing lessor crimes that these corrupt Republicans have gotten away with..

[Crazy Dave]

7. The government?

You should see the databases the marketing companies have on us. Our credit cards, our bank accounts, our internet browsing habits, our searches, our purchases, what type of house we have, how many kids, their names, how much our utility bills are, etc.
I was listening to NPR one day and someone was telling how incompetent our CIA, Department of Homeland Security, NSA and local law enforcement agencies are (how else could tens of thousands of children in the state's care and sexual predators be missing) and how much more effective and technologically advanced the large marketing companies that sell all our private information to the highest bidder.
The IRS though are people finding monsters. They will track someone down to the ends of the earth with every resource they have (as they did me 22 years ago for $185 without the computerized database they have now).
I used to tell everyone that if Bin Laden had owed the IRS money from laundering his illegal funds he would have been caught by now.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

11. Yep

The FOIA procedure, believe it or not, works as well as anyone can expect - unless they really have been tracking you. Then, it'll take years, and a lot of $$$ (paid to someone like me), to get whatever anyone has on you.

About the IRS, that's very, very true.

But, for real people-finding talent, no one beats the Vatican.

Welcome to DU, DtheW.......

[Poppyseedman]

13. Spot on with your post

I do find it somewhat amazing the outrage being generated by the recent NSA news items and this administration. Considering the amount of info being sold daily to companies that pretty much have your life down to a set of data on who, what, where, why and personal behaviors indicators your wife doesn't even know about you.

The average joe with average computer skills with very few key personal info can find out a great deal of information on any person with very little time and effort.

............and we do with our permission !!!!

[Peggy Day]

9. once while traveling

I was not allowed to use the outside porters. They said I needed to be searched. I asked the guy why, and he mentioned maybe because I had a one-way ticket, that I was flagged. I mentioned to my son, that "I guess they don't like the internet sites I'm visiting". Who knows?

[Crazy Dave]

10. Not being nosy or sarcastic but.....

did you and your son even look like typical terrorists? My guess is no.

[Peggy Day]

17. no we didn't -german english irish american indian mix

[OldLeftieLawyer]

12. That's one of the markers,

and that goes back years and years, having nothing to do with 9/11 or your Internet(s) activity.

There were certain markers that airlines have used for decades:

1. People who paid for their tickets in cash;
2. People who bought one-way tickets;
3. People who bought one-way tickets at the last minute:
4. People without luggage;
5. People of Middle-Eastern appearance - yes, that one's true.

With the exception of #5, the best airline bet was that they were either up to no good or prostitutes.

The #5 rule has been in effect since at least the late 1970's, when I first encountered it while helping to represent an airline.

[ToolTex]

14. Since you post here, they will certainly have files on you.

I recall reading sometime back that the policy of this admin is to hinder FOIA requests, and only answer them when forced to. You will never discover what files they have on you.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. Email Agent Mike

Or just post a thread here.

Hey Agent Mike, are you online this morning? LOL