Right now it's possible to log onto an information broker's website, type in a credit card number, and pay an investigator to laboriously poke through dusty files in courthouses to compile a dossier on the person of your choice. In the near future, though, a background investigation on anyone may be available in seconds, as government agencies increasingly sell their records to private digital-data-warehouses as a means of revenue.

The state of Maryland, one of the leaders in the trend, already makes nearly $13 million a year selling drivers-license records. Texas voter registration, drivers records and eviction papers are purchased by a company in the West Indies that sells them via the Web.

As it becomes easier to access a person's height, weight, Social Security number and previous addresses with a few keystrokes, it'll become increasingly difficult to conceal your identity or whereabouts from prying eyes. In addition, the easy availability of public-record data may make it easier to obtain access to credit or medical records. Cyber-journalist Brock Meeks has speculated that the coming plethora of information-for-sale may create "privacy outlaws," who take to the hills in an effort to keep their names, images and vital statistics from being misused.