The thing is, most searches cannot be automated because the records are paper records, maintained by each local government. There exist services (called "gesto

The thing is, most searches cannot be automated because the records are paper records, maintained by each local government. There exist services (called "gestorías") where you hire someone to stand in line and do the paperwork for you where applicable. Other records (like the record of ownership) have been computerized, but can ONLY be queried by someone with the notary ("Escribano") degree. I actually thought about tackling that one for data mining (it has the actual purchase prices for houses and cars and land), but there are personal data privacy issues too, and even if you get the degree, it can (and probably will) be revoked if you use it for stuff like that. In Uruguay everyone had to stand in line to pay utilities, now we have services to pay them, and banks and credit cards offer internet payment tied to your bank account or credit card, there's even a startup that uses smartphones to scan the barcodes :) called Paganza http://www.paganza.com/ http://www.paganza.com/ (that was started by some former coworkers of mine)