In brief: yes, you can engage a licensed agency to trace a person, but not for any reason and not by any means. A licensed agency may research someone only with a legitimate purpose, lawful sources, and a documented proportionality assessment. Serious agencies refuse requests where the purpose is unclear or where locating someone could put that person at risk. That refusal is not a limitation of the service; it is the reason the results remain verifiable and usable.
Legitimate reasons to trace someone
- A debtor who has disappeared while a claim or judgment is outstanding
- Heirs or beneficiaries in an estate that cannot be settled without them
- A witness or party needed for legal proceedings
- The person behind a fraud: a webshop, an investment scheme, a fake profile
- A lost family member, where the found person decides about contact
What these have in common is a demonstrable, legitimate interest. That is not a formality: under the GDPR, researching a person is processing personal data, and it requires a legal basis that we document per engagement.
Requests a licensed agency must refuse
The mirror image matters just as much. An agency that asks no questions about your purpose should worry you. NCRB does not trace people for stalking, harassment, or control; requests where the relationship between client and subject suggests risk, such as locating an ex-partner without a legal basis, are declined or referred to the appropriate authorities. Where we do locate a person in sensitive family matters, the found person decides whether contact happens; we do not simply hand over an address.
What is legally possible
Licensed investigators work with lawful sources: public registers, company and insolvency records, court publications, media archives, historical web content, social media, and specialist commercial databases. Combined and verified against each other, these sources answer more tracing questions than most people expect. The craft is not access to secret data; it is knowing where lawful data lives and how to connect it.
What we never do
- No hacking or accessing private accounts or devices
- No pretexting: we do not pose as someone else to extract information
- No GPS trackers or covert surveillance equipment
- No bribing of officials or buying of stolen data
These boundaries are not just ethics. Evidence obtained unlawfully can poison an entire case, and a licensed agency (in the Netherlands: a Wpbr permit, NCRB holds POB 1737) is supervised on exactly this. If your case ends up in court, the way the information was gathered matters as much as the information itself.
Police or private investigation?
If someone is missing and may be in danger, call the police first; they have powers no private party has. But many tracing questions are civil, not criminal: a debtor, an heir, a fraudster you want to hold liable. Police capacity for such cases is limited, and that is exactly where private investigation adds value: speed, focus, and a report your lawyer can act on. The two routes also combine well; a documented file often makes a criminal complaint more effective.
How an engagement works
It starts with a confidential intake: who are you looking for, why, and what will you do with the result. We assess feasibility and legal basis, agree on scope and cost, and then research in phases, reporting findings with source references and confidence ratings. You receive facts and documentation; decisions about next steps remain yours, ideally together with your legal counsel.
This article is general information and does not constitute legal advice. Every case is different; where necessary, consult a qualified professional.
