When something looks too great to be true it usually is. Are instant background checks all they are cracked-up to be? Are they really Fast and Nationwide? Without a doubt perfectly legal to do a background check on people at any time. Now I know that I’ve lost a handful of of you who now think that I am off my rocker because you know that there are all sorts of forms that you have to sign with all kinds of legal warnings with criminal penalties and such, nevertheless I’ll say it once more. “anybody can do a background check on people, any time they feel like it.” Because I intend you to read this whole article, I am not necessarily going to explain those statements before further into the article.

There is certainly no immediate national databases of all records of criminals you can get. Right now you are probably sure that I am crazy. “Why just last night on Law & Order they got the bad guy’s record . . .” There, you are talking about NCIC, the National Crime Information Center or otherwise known as the FBI files. While the FBI maintains the best and most accurate information, unfortunately, you can’t get them, unless of course you are a federally insured bank, a defense department contractor, a nuclear power plant, a branch for the federal itself or a handful of other such entity. A surprising amount of otherwise intelligent individuals think that there are giant federal databases with info on everybody including their criminal record, job history, credit files an even what books they look at out for the library and what videos they rent. If that were true, why does it take the federal itself four months and $2400 to perform its own Pike county court records? Don’t believe me? Send me an e-mail and I will send you the link to the Office of Personnel Management web site that shows the bill and time schedule.

There is certainly a big, big difference between everywhere and anywhere. The companies that sell databases info advertise that they lookup everywhere, or at least that’s what they intend you to believe. Using the word Nationwide is designed to make you think that they look at everywhere. The question followed by becomes, “If you don’t look at everywhere, what do you look at?” The answer is that all of us look at anywhere you has lived or worked. Without a doubt much better to look at anywhere and get real information as compared to to look at everywhere and get inaccurate databases information?

So if there’s no such thing as an immediate nationwide databases what are these companies selling? First let me tell you what these databases are great for and followed by I’ll tell you why they are dangerous. In a handful of states for the USA their REAL records of criminals are available in a handful of manner of publicly accessible form. It might be on the world wide web and it may demand that a subscription or acknowledgment of permissible purpose for its use, nevertheless most certainly available. Texas is a great example of this. For a small bill you can go on the internet and get the REAL records of criminals for the state of Texas. Florida, Minnesota and Virginia are other examples of where you could possibly get via these databases services what I call “REAL” information. The problem is that these databases companies don’t tell the consumer (you) that is most cases and in most areas for the u.s. you are getting either nothing or marginal info at best.