In a world where face to face business meetings are in decline, it is more important than ever to ensure your Due Diligence processes are rigorous. The world is in a state of flux, and it is at times like this when fraudsters and those who seek to exploit financial systems for their own ends are at their most active. The Isle of Man is known to be a well-regulated jurisdiction, but it would only take one misinformed decision about an individual or entity to change perceptions.
Regulated businesses are very familiar with the need for Due Diligence and the circumstances under which it should be performed. When there is such a requirement the majority will turn to Google or one of the many commercial databases to conduct their searches. Whilst a reasonable place to start, the biggest search engine in the world has shown another side to itself in the last 12 months. I have always taken the view that Due Diligence is an investigatory process, in my former career as a police officer, investigations came to be referred to as a ‘search for the truth’. What the pandemic has brought into sharp focus is the ability of big tech to remove information that it disagrees with or de-platform individuals who provide an alternative view. It has now become virtually impossible to get anything other than a ‘version of the truth’ from the likes of search engines and social media.
Why is this relevant? I use the pandemic as an example, but this sort of thing has been going on for much longer than we think. First, it is vital to understand that the Internet is not Google and Google is not the Internet, (incidentally the same can be said of any search engine). The best way to think of these online resources are databases, the content of which is gathered in accordance with complex algorithm, designed around harvesting user data. What you click on, what you buy, what websites you visit are of great commercial value to big-tech companies. That data is sold, ironically to sell things to us. Big tech may not have your best interests at heart when for example, you are trying to research a PEP (Politically Exposed Person).
Commercial databases add value, but they use algorithms, use search engine APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) can be very expensive and there are many to choose from. So, what’s the answer? I’ve put some suggestions below.
- Don’t rely on Google to be your single source of truth
- Don’t just rely on a commercial database
- Don’t believe everything you see online
- Research widely, use different search engines (DuckDuckGo, Yandex, Carrot2 as examples)
- Understand how the Internet and the Web work
- Consider attending one of our Open-Source Investigation courses, I guarantee your searches will improve
We also offer Due Diligence investigation services, so if you want an independent, professional opinion, get in touch.
Find better information faster, make better decisions.
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