On Monday, federal and state authorities charged Vance Boelter with the murders of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. An affidavit written by an FBI Special Agent, published here by MSNBC, includes photos of a notepad found in Boelters SUV which included a long list of people search sites, some of which make it very easy for essentially anyone to find the address and other personal information of someone else in the U.S. The SUV contained other notebooks and some pages included the names of more than 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, including Hortman, the affidavit says. Hortmans home address was listed next to her name, it adds.People search sites can present a risk to citizens privacy, and, depending on the context, physical safety. They aggregate data from property records, social media, marriage licenses, and other places and make it accessible to even those with no tech savvy. Some are free, some are paid, and some require a user to tick a box confirming theyre only using the data for certain permitted use cases.This notepad does not necessarily mean that Boelter used these specific sites to find Hortmans or other officials addresses. As the New York Times noted, Hortmans address was on her campaign website, and Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman, who Boelter allegedly shot along with Hoffmans wife, listed his address on his official legislative webpage.The sites inclusion shows they are of high interest to a person who allegedly murdered and targeted multiple officials and their families in an act of political violence. Next to some of the people search site names, Boelter appears to have put a star or tick.Those people search sites are:Intelius [this entry has a tick next to it]BeenVerified.comOwnerly.com [the note address needed is added next to this site on the list]USSearch.com [this entry has a tick next to it]NeighborWho [the note address needed is added next to this site on the list]PeopleFinders.com [this entry has a star next to it]PeopleLooker [this entry has a tick next to it]Spokeo [this entry has a tick next to it; another entry notes not free]TruePeopleSearch.comTruthFinder.comInformation.comPipl [a note says not free next to this entry]Addresses.comYellowpages.comSenator Ron Wyden said in a statement The accused Minneapolis assassin allegedly used data brokers as a key part of his plot to track down and murder Democratic lawmakers. Congress doesn't need any more proof that people are being killed based on data for sale to anyone with a credit card. Every single American's safety is at risk until Congress cracks down on this sleazy industry.404 Media has repeatedly reported on how data can be weaponized against people. We found violent criminals and hackers were able to dox nearly anyone in the U.S. for $15, using bots that were based on data people had given as part of opening credit cards. In 2023 Verizon gave sensitive information, including an address on file, of one of its customers to her stalker, who then drove to the address armed with a knife.404 Media was able to contact most of the people search sites for comment. Thryv, the parent company of YellowPages.com, was the only one that replied and declined to comment.