Suppressing criminal records in Massachusetts
There is an active public debate with respect to the longevity of criminal records. Many advocates are concerned that even a minor crime, committed 20 years ago, can follow a person for the rest of their life. It can limit their job opportunities, marginalizing them and perhaps making it more likely they will return to the criminal sector. This can happen even for incidents such as arrests or dismissed charges, where the accused may be innocent of a crime.
On the federal level there are some limitations imposed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with respect to the use of criminal background checks in pre-employment screening. In general, events that did not lead to a conviction cannot be reported for more than 7 years. However, many states have rules of their own that restrict things further.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Massachusetts is one of the strictest in terms of limiting employer access to criminal records. Their Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) database is not made available in digital form, and as a result they are one of only 2 states not available in our criminal record database. (Hawaii is the other state.) Apparently, Masschusetts is considering restricting criminal record access even further.
I think there is a good case to be made for expunging arrests or dismissed charges from a person’s record, if it did not lead to a criminal conviction. But there is a real danger in hiding criminal […]
Speeding through airport security with the help of a criminal background check
Most of us think of background checks in the context of applying for a job, or an apartment. But if you travel on airplanes, you probably go through airport security a lot more often than you change jobs. The steps a airline traveler goes through — lugagge screening, removing shoes, opening up a laptop, and passing lookup up against a no-fly list, constitute a background check in their own right. It is probably fair to say that most of us consider this something of an inconvenience.
The Transportation Security Administration has a Registered Traveler program that may allow travelers to bypass some of those long annoying lines. Since the TSA does not, apparently, wish to spend a lot of money on this, they are outsourcing the actual background screening to the private sector. The TSA’s cut is $28 per enrollment.
One such background check partner is Clear. For $100 per year, you can move through security a bit faster in 5 airports — none of them, alas, near Washington D.C. The website is rather vague on the benefits, other than stating enrollees will get a designated security lane. There is no explanation as to whether the screening experience itself is expedited in some way, whether through technology or other means. Still, it is probably worth it to have a shorter lane that will tend to have experienced travelers. I expect it would indeed go faster.
Clear uses biometrics for authentication […]
The need for identifiers in accurate criminal checks
Identity theft is a growing concern for the American public. There have been many articles, books, and broadcasts on the topic. High-profile data breaches at ChoicePoint and LexisNexis have served to heighten the sense of alarm. Newspapers have been regularly trumpeting the increasing rate of identity theft, while neglecting to mention that this frightening term refers to stolen credit card numbers (as opposed to a true impersonation) 90% of the time.
Much of the concern has focused on the social security number, or SSN. This is understandable as the SSN is the basic number used in the financial world. As more government records come online, there has been increasing pressure to remove SSNs from all records in order to prevent them from getting into the wrong hands. Stories like county officials posting property records with full SSNs that anyone could find horrified readers. Awareness of the problem is a good start to preventing egregious leaks such as this. But that does not mean that SSNs should vanish from all public records.
Social security numbers can be vital for criminal background checks. Criminal checks always require a name and date of birth. But what happens if your investigative subject is named John Williams? With a common name and a broad search area, it is possible for someone to show up with a criminal record and matching birth date who is not the one being checked. […]
Criminal background checks for astronauts
Although the primary goal of this blog is to provide serious and in-depth articles, every now and then we enjoy taking a look at the more bizarre side of criminal background checks. NASA recently had a rare intersection with our world when astronaut Lisa Nowak was charged with attempted murder after allegedly assaulting romatic rival Colleen Shipman. The story rapidly spread in national headlines, as it contained all the Fatal Attraction elements: a married woman obsessed with another man, violent female rage, and a long drive using a diaper so that rest stops would not be necessary. The details are better found elsewhere but this raised the question for us, how does NASA handle its employee screening?
Whatever they are doing must be reasonably effective. According to NASA this is the first time that an active-duty astronaut has been charged with a felony. The agency is currently implementing a security upgrade that will require all employees to have a NACI background investigation, also known as a National Agency Check with Inquiries. This is an very extensive background check that starts with a check of various government databases such as the FBI index (using name and fingerprint), terrorist watch lists, immigration, CIA, State Department, and so on. A credit bureau check and police check are done, covering where the applicant has lived, worked, or attended school in the past five years. The agency will independently verify date and place of […]
Which background check providers are FCRA compliant?
If you are responsible for employment or tenant screening, you probably know that you need to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). And if you have been looking online to find someone to do the background checks for you, you may have noticed that virtually every web site says that they are “FCRA compliant”. Does this mean they can be used to screen employees in a legal manner? Not necessarily.
Many websites rely on a linguistic trick to claim FCRA compliance. The FCRA only applies to background checks that are used for job screening, tenant screening, or other protected purposes. It does not apply if you are checking out a friend or spouse. That means that a website can say in the fine print, “These background reports are not to be used for employment or housing”, while mentioning the FCRA proudly in their ad. As long as the criminal checks are not used for an FCRA purpose, by definition they are FCRA compliant! A neat trick, as long as you are not the unlucky business owner who misses the restriction in the fine print. Employment and housing lawsuits can be very expensive.
How can you tell which is which? A key thing that every screener must provide is a way for people to correct any errors in their record. This can be difficult to do and as a result many non-FCRA sites refuse to help. Since people […]
A guide to using credit reports for employment screening
It can be difficult to decide which type of background checks are appropriate for your organization. Almost everyone will want to do a criminal background check. What else do you need? In this post we explore a popular supplement, credit reports.
Credit reports are a potentially rich source of information. There are different types available, depending upon whether it is being used for tenant screening (which has some similarity to a loan), or employment screening. The version for employers includes:
- Identifying information about the subject, such as past addresses, aliases, additional social security numbers, and previous employers.
- Details on how they manage their debt — this is the “credit” part. This section shows their credit limits on various accounts and whether they are delinquent or have a history of late payments.
- Public records such as liens, judgments, or bankruptcies that are relevant to a person’s credit.
- A record of who else has requested a credit report on this person for purposes of extending credit. (This section is probably more relevant for tenant screening, as a large number of inquiries may indicate the subject’s desire to take out loans.)
Additional features may be available depending on the credit report provider. Note that employment credit reports do not provide credit scores, that is not considered relevant. Scores are available for tenant screening.
Given this high level of detail, it is understandable that many employers are tempted to use credit reports very widely. However, there are some significant risks in that approach. Everyone would agree […]