More partnerships and joint work for a global world
A few decades ago the adjective “global” was used to describe and sometimes define the world of XXI century. Actually, we can consider that the term is to some extent a pleonasm, since every action covering the entire planet can be considered global. However, progress in information technologies that allows us to learn about what is happening on the streets of Tokyo in this very moment thanks to a simple Tweet, really makes the world feel smaller, where fashion, information, messages and products travel faster and get shared around the world more quickly. This comprehensiveness has affected the business world to also change, and it is no different in the world of private investigation. The best private detective agencies in Madrid and in all large and cosmopolitan cities in Europe and worldwide have sought to join associations that bring together companies in the industry and thereby establishing strategic alliances with others in different countries, in order to develop a complex investigation that leads us to move to other latitudes as provided, and thus always to deliver excellent results to the clients. So MONOPOL DETECTIVES has been a part of WorldAssociation of Detectives for many years.
It is true that these strategic partnerships and trends are given to join associations as part of the definition of a company in the industry not only in the area of private investigation, but it is true that everyone used to think of as private detectives “lone wolves” and maybe people working in isolation and sometimes in the shadows, while currently being a part of these strategic alliances is an advantage that cannot be underestimated.
Business research… is it a goldmine?
Again we must recognize that current and future trends relating to an old cliché related to private detectives: a private detective is the one who only investigates cases of jealous individuals looking for someone closely following their partners to corroborate the deception that they are victims. While it is true that private detectives have cases of this kind, they do work in depth other special cases such as the job of searching for and locating people involved with the demands of separation and divorce, and even a wide range of cases involving urban leases, it is also true that corporate investigations are increasingly on demand and this is shaping the world of current and future private investigators.
We could say that the work of a private detective has evolved into a much more executive work and it can be a real support for network of small and medium businesses, allowing them to have solid information to support various types of business decisions. As we can see, the image of the private detective whose possible work was to follow people is becoming blurred to result in a multifaceted professional, prepared and steeped in knowledge of business management that allows them to address business cases, but also individuals with more tools and much more solid base.
Facing more restrictions and privacy protections Undeniably the role of information and communications technology in our daily lives is enormous. The mobile from which we can buy a gift, answer an important email or locate a friend’s house are also a part of everyday presence. But also they make us vulnerable and expose our privacy. It is precisely this very fine fabric which divides the immediate communication with the loss of privacy, coupled with the difficult conditions facing the global security right now, which inspired voices in many countries calling for greater protection of the individual privacy. It is in this sense that private detectives must demonstrate their expertise and experience, rather than with technological devices that are prohibited to use in order to perform tracking, monitoring or other activities that are within the work of a private investigator. For example, using drones in the cities, or the use of GPS for following. There are many issues related the citizen and national security, coupled with the use of technology and the need to protect the privacy of the individuals in a world where it is common to make public even the smallest details of intimate life, so having the experience, knowledge and being prepared will do good to a private detective.
A mixed nature work
The technology is now a ubiquitous variable in the development of almost any work activity. Clearly, the job of a private detective is no exception. This does not imply that the hard work of a detective (a la Sherlock Holmes) will disappear, but it will definitely transform into a hybrid. Techniques such as face-to-face, going from door to door looking for witnesses and others who are part of the classical repertoire of a private investigator will never disappear, but they will be complement to and mingled with new tools that technology provides. And in these days, it is undeniable that you can find more information about a person with a couple of hours well spent on a computer than spending days or even weeks using normal methods which have been used for the past fifteen or twenty years. There are thousands of small pieces of information that can be found simply by using public records and social networks. Today, taking all those little details and bringing them together implies a rather skillful use of computers and the internet. The report is made on a computer, but “manually” so to speak. However, this will probably not remain so for long. Imagine having software based on Google algorithms to some degree, but made for an intensive investigation. Relate little bits here and there and throw coordinates, profiles, hidden photos, relations between publications, passwords… Tools like these have already begun to be developed, but they do not have the accurate power of a private investigator. At present, hours of personalized web search are still needed to find valuable, current and relevant information about people and situations.
What is the true face of the relationship between technology and the future of private investigation? Different types of gadget, tools and different types of software will facilitate the work of a private detective or may be reversed and this technological ubiquity will make it harder to use the Internet, but at the same time, it will strengthen the protection measures that people take, mired in paranoia that anyone can steal information that is shared on internet. In the end, all the technological tools are just that: useful. A tool is only as good as the technique and knowledge of the one who uses it. So in a world and a market dominated by technology, it is actually detective experience that will mean whether this tool will be a gain or a loss for your company.
Professionalism, ethics and new horizons
The future prospects seem to point, then, in a market where the corporate investigations become more important than traditional private investigations, without the latter disappearing. In a work environment where private detectives in Madrid will have to make a professional gala premier to prove they are more than just a virtual tool that can make it as deep as their counterparts of performed work without a computer, and even more, as they learn to rely on every corner offering this parallel world of cyber-reality to deliver more complete reports and more detailed information. However, in this scenario where we have talked about the latest changes, we have to mention something that still remains unchanged in the work of a private detective, and this is certainly ethics. And in this changing spectrum of career prospects people are more focused on the pursuit of economic information and executive, such as:
- Verification of employment history
- Performance monitor of delegates, employees, vendors and representatives
- Control of sick leave
- Absenteeism
- Duplication of professional activities
- Unfair competition
- Channeling sales through investee companies
- Pre-foreclosures and judgments executive’s financial and economic reports
- Location of property
- Insolvency feigned
- Industrial and commercial counter-espionage
- Research on patents and trademarks
- Information leaks
- Fake brands
- Patent infringement
- Plagiarism of production processes
- Fraud insurance companies
- Verification of claims and doubtful accidents
- Aftermath injured in accidents, fake injuries
- Damage in general
- Liability
It becomes increasingly important to rethink the relationship with the working tools and the size of the job spectrum, but the full union of private detectives in Madrid and Spain should also re-think its relationship with professional ethics, since more tools and technology involve a greater power of knowledge with respect to the privacy of individuals and the sphere of the private life, although we are investigating a case for corporate investigations.
The future of the profession, in the end, does not depend on the technological advances that are used, or the more common cases, if there is not honesty among detectives addressing the cases. Honesty to customers, as well as strict adherence to ethical standards of the profession is certainly opening new horizons and challenges private investigators in Madrid and other large cities face with. A final challenge is the distinction between local and global. Does this overcrowding use of digital technologies influence on the customers to choose to hire detectives from other towns or other parts of the country? Probably not.
The local know-how is important: knowledge of the physical environment cannot be removed from a virtual environment. Madrid is unique, such as Barcelona, Seville, London or Moscow. Likewise, the legal rules governing the behavior of a private detective are different in each province, autonomous region and of course, in each country, beyond the existence of transnational regions. In short, the challenges to the work of a detective come from many fronts, but the professionalism, experience, preparation and skillful use of tools coupled with intact ethics enables private detectives to be prepared to face these new horizons and perspectives.