Unearthing the past - Background checks in the Internet age

In the interconnected world of today, where the Internet provides a way for information to flow almost instantaneously from any point on the globe to any other, personal data has become a matter of nearly complete public availability. The last shreds of privacy are currently dissolving under the spotlight of Internet scrutiny, and although this raises numerous legal and moral questions, it is also true that the openness of information has made it far easier to conduct a background check on potential employees and other people occupying positions of trust.

With easy access to the Internet, people of all walks of life can now carry out background checks on nearly anyone. Whether checking for criminal activity in the past of a babysitter, an accountant, or a potential employee, or simply prying into the background of a neighbor, spouse, or friend, the enterprising Internet surfer will find many tools for discovering both ordinary and possibly also unsavory data about almost anyone.

Background checks can reveal a wide range of data, from the innocuous to the potentially explosive. Criminal records and sex offender lists are available on the Internet - in fact, sex offender lists are offered free by the government, though they are also frequently offered through paid background check services.

Citizenship can be determined through a background check, although this is more likely to be a concern for a large company worried about hiring illegal immigrants (and facing the possible legal consequences) than a private individual seeking to know a babysitter or part-time worker's background. Educational history, previous addresses, financial data such as credit rating or bankruptcy history, and various other data can also be collected through both online and offline sources.

This information is usually offered for a fee by various services that specialize in gathering background data from a number of different sources. Although the seeker for information could likely discover most of these details for themselves, making use of various public records and even word of mouth, the time involved in such a search usually far offsets the small saving on the online service's fee. Although the information in a background search is mostly available for free, the time spent on this rather than on more important matters - the "opportunity cost" - means that hiring a service is usually the best way to get a quick, fairly accurate portrait of an individual's history.

It should be noted, however, that discovering something unsavory in a person's past is not an excuse for harassing them in any manner - and that doing so can result in arrest and possibly brief imprisonment. In short, although background check information allows someone to choose whether to hire a certain person or associate with them, it is not an excuse for aggressive, uncivilized, or intrusive behavior. Whatever data is unearthed should not be noised about publicly - especially with the risk of a libel suit if it is inaccurate - and should be used only to make decisions on whether to interact with or hire the individual in question.