One of the biggest concerns people have before contacting a private investigator is simple:
Will the person find out?It is understandable to worry about this. You may live with the person you have concerns about. share friends or family, work within the same business, or simply not want anyone knowing you have sought professional help.
For most private investigations, the answer is straightforward: the subject of the investigation is not contacted or informed that you have instructed us.
Confidentiality and discretion are fundamental to the work we carry out.
Will You Tell the Person I'm Investigation?No.
If you instruct us to conduct surveillance, make background enquires, establish information or undertake another dicreet investigation, we do not contact the subject to tell them that an investigation is taking place.
Doing so would not only compromise your confidentiality but could undermine the purpose of the investigation itself.
The objective is to establish factual information discreetly and lawfully, without unnecessarily interfering with subject or altering their normal behaviour.
What If I Live With the Person?This is common concern, particularly with matrimonial investigations.
If you share a home, finances or daily rountine with the person concerned, it is worth telling us at the outset.
We can discuss how you would prefer us to communicate with you and any particular considerations around calls, emails, reports or other correspondence.
Discretion doesn not begin when surveillance starts. It begins with the first conversation.
When Would You Contact Someone?There are situations where contact is actually part of the instruction.
A good example is a missin person or reconnection case.
You may ask us to locate an estranged family member, biological parent, old friend or somebody you have lost contact with after many years.
In these circumstances, locating the person does not automaticcally mean we will provide you with their current address, telephone number or other personal information.
There are important provacy and safety considerations involved.
Instead where appropriate, we can facilitate the initial contact on your behalf.
We can approach the individual, explain that somebody is seeking to reconnect and give them the opportunity to decide whether they would like to connect.
This protects the person who have been located while still giving our client the oppurtunity to potentially reconnect.
What If They Don't Want Cantact?That decision must be respected.
Finding somebody does not automaticallu create a right to their personal information.
If the person does not wish to reconnect, we would not simply provide their address or contact details to the person searching for them.
This is an important safeguard, particularly because circumstances can chnage significantly during years without contact.
There may be reasons why someone does not wish their current location or personal information to be disclosed.
Our role is to help facilitate the process safely, not to remove that person's choice.
What About Other Types of Investigations?The same principle of discretion applied across different types of work.
For example, if you instruct surveillance because of concerns about a partner, the investigator does not approach them.
If an employer commissions a lawful instruction into a particular concern, investigators do not unnecessarily disclose the client's instruction.
If enquiries are being conducted in support of a legal matter, information is handled in accordance with the purpose of that investigation.
There wmay occasionally be circumstances where enquiries require interaction with theird parties but this should be considered as part of how the investigation is planned and conducted.
Will Anyone Else Know?Some investigations require more than one investigator or specialist researcher.
Where this is necessary, relevant information may need to be shared within the investagative team so the work can be carried out properly.
That is very different from disclosing your instruction to the person being investigated.
Your case infomation should be handled confidentially and only used for legitimate purpose of conducting the investigation.
What Happens After the Investigation?Once the investigation is complete, findings are provided to you in a appropriate format depending on the work undertaken. This may include a written report, photographs, video footage or other information gathered during the investigation.
What you should subsequently choose to do with information will depend on your circumstances.
For example, you may decide to provide evidence to your solicitor or use it as part of a formal legal process. At that stage, there may be circumstances. where the evidence and potentially how it was obtained becomes known.
This is different from an investigator independently informing the subject that you commissioned and investigator.
If you intend to use the finding within legal proceedings, this is something with disussing with both your investigator and solicitor.
Can I Just Speak to You Without Going Ahead?Yes.
Making an enquiry does not mean you have commited to an investigation.
You can explain whats happening, what you would like to establish, and any concerns you have about confidentiality.
We can then explain what may be possible and how the investigation can be approached.
If you decide not to proceed, that is entirely your decision.
The Bottom Line If one of thieves things stopping you from contacting a private investigator is the worry that the person cencerned will automatically find out, that is not how discreet investigation works.
We do not contact the subject of an investigation simply to tell them that somevody has instructed us.
Where you specifically ask us to make contact, such as when trying to reconnect with a missing family member or somebody from your past, we approach that differently.
The safety and privacy of the person located must be considered, Rather than automatically releasing somebody else's personal details, we cna facilitate contact and allow them to decide whether they wish to reconnect.
Dor every investigation, discretion starts with understanding the circumstances and agreeing an appropriate approach before the work begins.
