There is an increasing number of people beginning to realize the significance of checking the credentials of others before hiring or entering into a business association, and even for dating and marrying. It seems that the days when one could trust the personal references and testimonials provided by anyone are over.

The processes employed for checking the background of individuals have been influenced by the technological developments. For instance, as usual, the Internet proves to be of immense help for this purpose. Now, one finds many websites containing criminal records of individuals, and offering a huge database for conducting background checks, not only for individuals, but also for institutions and businesses.

While carrying any background checks, it is imperative not to infringe the laws governing the public records, which prove helpful in collecting personal information of the individuals. The basic purpose of carrying background checks for an individual or a company is to know their character, reliability and financial status.

Here are the points not to be ignored while conducting any background check:

• Take consideration of the laws governing the state in which the investigation is to be carried. Certain things may be allowed in one state, but another state may not give permission for the same. It is vital to go through and understand the Gramm-Leach-Bililey Act (GLB), the drivers Privacy Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the federal laws governing the privacy matters.
• Ensure to collect information including the name, social security number and date of birth plus the permanent address of the company or individual who you may be investigating.
• You should assess the information available online, as also the information which would require some traveling on your part. It will be good to hire services for the retrieval of documents if you are not in a state to undertake travelling.
• You’ll need to do your research very systematically. You would verify personal details, and then go to verify the financial and driving, plus criminal records. You may conduct background checks with the help of websites containing the records of business or professional associations, credit records, and also scour websites providing public and criminal records. You will also find it helpful to access the Federal Register, Better Business Bureau and the black lists provided by the insurance and credit card companies.
• Prepare a list of keywords connected to the company or individual under investigation, and utilize search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo etc. These search engines have massive databases providing massive information, including some that one may never expect.

Now, with the Internet facilitating the gathering of personal information about individuals and companies, consumers are beginning to make good use of this facility, as it helps safeguarding their business and personal interests. The checks that are carried most frequently are: verifying records such as the name, educational qualifications and employment; verifying personal references, individual’s achievement and performance, health checks, checking credit rating and criminal records.