# Can all information be found online? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884 "2017-11-27T18:50:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/21 "2017-11-28T03:12:49Z")
No. And for what is the “signal to noise ratio” can be a real problem. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/22 "2017-11-28T03:21:13Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > What have I got in my pocket? The _Preciousssssssss_. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/23 "2017-11-28T04:30:23Z")
My bank pin#. And people who are in the witness protection program. Do they really even do that anymore? ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/24 "2017-11-28T04:33:41Z")
What did Odin whisper into the ear of his dead son Baldr before he was burned on the pyre? ---
**Author:** ![TurboNuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@TurboNuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TurboNuke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/25 "2017-11-28T09:21:02Z")
I work at a nuclear power plant. Some of the equipment is from the 60s and 70s. I find it annoying that I cant just google the model number and find a nice YouTube video on how to fix it unlike practically everything else in my life. ---
**Author:** ![JakeRS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@JakeRS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JakeRS)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/26 "2017-11-28T09:59:55Z")
For example…Turkish army probably has military plans about how a war with Greece would look like, what each military unit’s job would be, how to prepare for it and so on, Greece probably has one in return, every serious country has those types of plans. Try finding them and tell me how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/27 "2017-11-28T14:38:01Z")
**Beckdawrek** , how can you possibly use your bank PIN if it’s not online? Likewise, **Duckster** , of course the SDMB moderators’ manual is online. What, did you think that we all got it via FedEx or something? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/28 "2017-11-28T16:23:27Z")
In about 1955-56 my mother’s case was written up in a small medical journal. The journal itself no longer exists and AFAICT has never been digitized, much less indexed. The elementary schools I attended closed decades ago and I doubt the central offices retained every single report card from those years. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/29 "2017-11-28T16:42:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Beckdawrek** , how can you possibly use your bank PIN if it’s not online? If his pin is really known by the bank instead of a hash of it known by the bank then the bank is doing a piss poor job of security. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/30 "2017-11-28T16:59:17Z")
My PIN is 4 digits. There is no difference between storing the PIN or storing the hash. What about that “k of p in a dpb” or whatever it was? That doesn’t seem to be online. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/31 "2017-11-28T17:13:13Z")
There are archives and research libraries all over the country, and all over the world, containing thousands upon thousands upon thousands of boxes of paper records, the vast majority of which will never be digitized. The National Archives of the United States has about 2 million digitized records available through its website, but that represents a tiny percentage of all records held by the Archives. The digitized stuff generally represents materials from particularly popular or interesting topics. Much of the non-digitized stuff will probably never even be seen again by human eyes. It will sit in boxes until it’s destroyed or falls to dust. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/32 "2017-11-28T17:17:27Z")
My office is a library of information that can’t be found online. Old catalogs and performance charts for pumps made by long dead manufacturers. Well drilling logs from prior to the state recording them. Customer invoices and data cards for systems installed decades ago. Plenty of information of which I am the sole owner of. I’ve made active effort to image and catalog the customer information so I can quickly reference it on my phone in the field, so much if it is online now. If someone wants to dig through my google drive they can find all types of obscure data. There are plenty of records to go, it’s not a high priority project to image files we haven’t needed in years. I have multiple book cases of pump catalogs. If there is something I actually need to look up I’ll snap a picture of the page so maybe it’ll save me from looking it up again. Performance charts for pumps made 10 years ago can be difficult to find online. Ones from 60 years ago just don’t exist outside dusty old books. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/33 "2017-11-28T17:26:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And of that information which is online and in a retrievable form, a lot of it is on secured sites online, accessible only to people with the proper authorization (such as paid subscribers). U.S. census records are not available to the general public for 72 years. [Source.](https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/decennial_census_records/the_72_year_rule_1.html) On top of that, shit happens. > [@](#): > > Most of the [1890] census’ population schedules were badly damaged by a fire in the Commerce Department Building in January 1921. [Source.](https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/decennial_census_records/availability_of_1890_census.html) > [@](#): > > Individual income tax returns — including those of public figures — are private information, protected by law from unauthorized disclosure. Indeed, the Internal Revenue Service is barred from releasing any taxpayer information whatsoever, except to authorized agencies and individuals. [Source.](http://www.taxhistory.org/www/website.nsf/web/presidentialtaxreturns) Information may be out there somewhere, but that doesn’t mean the average Joe can get to it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/34 "2017-11-28T17:44:03Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > What have I got in my pocket? A mouse, duh. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/35 "2017-11-28T18:07:49Z")
> [@ioioio](#): > > On top of that, shit happens. [It happens to the military, too.](https://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html) > [@](#): > > On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/36 "2017-11-28T18:10:09Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > My PIN is 4 digits. There is no difference between storing the PIN or storing the hash. 1234 vs 03ac674216f3e15c761ee1a5e255f067953623c8b388b4459e13f978d7c846f4 One is a 4 digit pin the other is a hash. They are very different. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/37 "2017-11-28T18:12:51Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > 1234 vs 03ac674216f3e15c761ee1a5e255f067953623c8b388b4459e13f978d7c846f4 > > One is a 4 digit pin the other is a hash. They are very different. Ok, thanks for letting me know. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/38 "2017-11-28T18:19:04Z")
The supposedly confidential tax information is probably on some AWS drive (Amazon Web Services cloud computing) accidentally made available by some government contractor. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/39 "2017-11-28T18:25:18Z")
\*\*Can all information be found online? \*\* I can say with confidence that it isn’t. As **Chronos** immediately stated, not everything is digitized. While I’m constantly amazed at what is available online (my undergraduate thesis, it turns out. Not to mention a lot of my writings I never thought anyone had preserved), I’m annoyed by what isn’t. For historical research I’m doing, an awful lot of books, journals, maps, and newspapers are not available anywhere except in person at the library or historical location. Google Books is a constant frustration, often giving only _some_ pages out of the book I want, or only a few selected issues of a magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884/40 "2017-11-28T18:31:30Z")
_Everyone’s_ PIN is online assuming they use a 4-digit one. There’s just no telling which one is yours 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-all-information-be-found-online/802884.md?page=3)