Background checks, custody battles, and Anna Nicole Smith
Since Anna Nicole Smith's death, a firestorm has broken out over her seemingly drug-related death, and custody of her child. Where there is money, there are lawyers, and many allegations of criminal activity have been made. In the latest round, the social services department has ordered a background check on Anna's mother as well as two former boyfriends, all of them laying claim to the wealthy baby. Anna Nicole Smith spent much of her life in court, and it seems the pattern is likely to continue for her child. Smith was known to associate with some interesting characters, so the [...]
Green is for sex offender
Pity the poor sex offender. They have to register their address, can't live near schools and playgrounds, and their names are available for all to see at the national sex offender registry. And now, things are about to get worse. Ohio is considering a bill that would require sex offenders to put flourescent pink license plates on their cars. Apparently, this is not as original as I first thought. Drunk drivers in many states are required to have special colors on their license plates as well. But Ohio would be the first to have them for this particular type of [...]
Keeping the world safe for internet dating
Overlawyered.com recently described a New Jersey bill which would require internet dating sites to post prominent notices regarding criminal background checks for their members. The sites are required to post in 12-point type whether or not they have done a background check on their users. If the site has run the criminal checks, they are then required to post numerous disclaimers that it doesn't really mean anything because their background checks are seriously flawed. Either way, not meant to give a potential dater a warm and fuzzy feeling. It is a little amusing to see how this is turning out, [...]
The Google background check
Traditional criminal checks have protections for employees built-in to the system, courtesy of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). State laws also serve to protect the subjects of employee background checks. Some criminal records dog job candidates longer than they would like, but at least the person is notified about the problem, and there are mechanisms for correcting inaccuracies. But in the Internet era, employers are increasingly using sites such as Google and MySpace to vet potential employees. What are the implications? It is easy to see why the Google background check is so popular. It is free, instant, and [...]
What are the legal requirements for a nanny background check?
If you are a consumer, as opposed to a business owner or human-resource professional, you probably do not run background checks very often. Maybe to check out a boyfriend, or a self-check prior to interviewing for a job. These are all casual searches that do not affect someone else's job, credit, or housing. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) doesn't apply, and there are few legal issues involved. But the rules are different for nanny background checks. In hiring someone to look after your children, you will almost certainly want to run a criminal check, and maybe a driving record [...]
Automated background checks
At SentryLink, we like to keep up with the latest technology, so we were interested to learn about a new device that can automatically run a background check on someone entering a building. As reported on Kiosk Marketplace, a company called LobbyGuard Solutions has released a kiosk that will automatically run a background check against the national sex offender registry, as well as an optional internal list, before allowing them entry. Here is how it works: A person swipes their driver's license to get a visitor's badge. The kiosk reads the information from the license, which will include name and [...]