What does a social media investigation cover?
It covers what anyone can see online about a person or a business: public profiles, posts, comments, reviews, business listings and news. Public means visible without joining a private group, following a private account or using someone else's login.
The method is often called open source research: systematic searches across platforms and public sources, tied back to the right person. Daniel matches identity by the same username, connections and details across sites, and marks each result confirmed or possible.
Posts are edited and deleted, so timing matters. Each item is captured in full with its web address, date and time, logged, and kept in original form.
Can research show who is behind an anonymous account? Sometimes, from public clues, and the report says how confident the link is. No investigator can promise an identification, and Daniel does not hack an account or trick its holder to get one.
Who asks for online research?
Attorneys in family, civil and criminal defense matters, who need public posts found and preserved before they change.
Insurance adjusters and employers, for what has been posted publicly about an open claim or a specific problem at work. That research sits beside insurance and workers' comp investigations and employee misconduct investigations.
Individuals ask too: someone being harassed online who needs it documented, or someone who wants a person's public presence checked as part of a background investigation. Public posts can also matter in a child custody matter or an infidelity investigation.
This research is not used for hiring, renting, credit or insurance decisions.
Where does Oklahoma law draw the line online?
At what is public. Daniel works only with content anyone can see. Each point of law below is followed by what Daniel does or declines.
Oklahoma's Computer Crimes Act makes it unlawful to access a computer, a computer system, a network or data without authorization, and to solicit another person to do so. 21 O.S. § 1953(A)
Daniel does not send friend or follow requests to private accounts.
Federal law makes it a crime to access stored electronic communications without authorization. A user may authorize access to that user's own communications. 18 U.S.C. § 2701
Daniel does not log into another person's account.
CLEET, the Oklahoma agency that licenses private investigators, may discipline a licensee for fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. OAC 390:35-9-5
Daniel does not create fake profiles or message people under a false identity.
Getting someone's phone records by lying to a phone company is a federal crime. 18 U.S.C. § 1039
Daniel does not obtain another person's messages, call records or account contents.
Under Oklahoma's evidence code, authentication is satisfied by evidence that an item is what the person offering it claims. Its examples include the testimony of a witness with knowledge and an item's distinctive characteristics. 12 O.S. § 2901
Daniel is available to testify to how each capture was made. How social media evidence is used in court is a question for your attorney.
Oklahoma law makes it unlawful to send electronic communications meant to terrify, intimidate or harass, and to use a computer to harass another person. 21 O.S. §§ 1172, 1953(A)(8)
Nothing on this site is legal advice. Ask your attorney how the law applies to your situation.
What is in the capture log and the report?
- A capture log: each item with its web address, its date and time, the account it came from and notes.
- The captures themselves, kept in original form.
- A summary report of what was searched and what was found, with each identity match marked confirmed or possible.
- Daniel, available to testify about the work performed.
The report holds captures of what was posted publicly. Online research involves no surveillance, so it carries no photographs or video taken by Daniel.
What should you have ready before the research starts?
The first consultation is free. Research starts only after a written agreement is signed and a retainer is paid; how it works sets out the steps. For the first conversation, have ready:
- the names of the people or businesses involved;
- known usernames and profile links;
- the time period that matters;
- what your attorney needs, if you have one.
Keep screenshots and links out of the first text. Cost depends on how many people, platforms and periods are covered, the volume of content and the identity matching. The cost guide explains each factor.
What if you are being harassed or threatened online?
If someone is in danger right now, call 911. Fuller Investigations is not an emergency service.
Save everything, and report threats to the police. A threat is a matter for the police before it is a matter for an investigator. Daniel can then document the posts and messages for the police and your attorney.
Fuller Investigations declines any matter whose purpose appears to be to harass, threaten, stalk or harm someone.