Originally Posted by rodandy12
When you are 14, looking for you dad and his name is something like George Phillips, you're in it for the long haul. She only has all the UK and connected English speaking locations to search through. Doesn't that still include Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc.? Maybe he still is "on the island", but there is really no way to know.
She must start by going through the information available in the public domain. There isn't a permission issue for that. I just did a pretty extensive search to find some lost members of my high school class with pretty good success. It takes some effort and you learn things that make the job easier as you go along. Nothing I did required any special permission...well, that's not entirely correct. I found one classmate's former address and called the existing next door neighbor. I asked that my classmate be given my name and number. I heard from him about two weeks later.
And OK, maybe he doesn't want to be found...or maybe he thinks he doesn't want to be. Not our call. She asked help in finding him. I don't see a problem unless we suggest something unethical. True, she needs to know there are bad people out there and she doesn't need to take chances, but there are far more kind folks who might well be willing to help her.