Company background checks are done all the time. Sometimes they are done because a person is considering applying for a position with them. Other times it’s done to find if there is or has been anyone in the company with a criminal past. Most times with investigations like this it’s to find out about their reputation and services and their legal status. Whatever is your reason for wanting to perform this or purchase this service, it must be something that is very important to you.

There are federal laws which actually govern the use of public records and personal information. The FCRA, Fair Credit Reporting Act maintains the access to consumer reports. The DPPA governs the personal driving records of people. And finally, the GLB, Gramm/Leach/Bliley Act is the one that regulates all of the personal information that financial institutions have access to. And regarding school and medical records, there are strict federal laws which prohibit tampering or releasing some of that information.

Within those laws, company background checks are allowed. But remember, much of what you may be searching for and possibly paying for may be available to you for nothing. Again, there may be restrictions on it though so when you decide what you want to find out and which company you want to go with, they will let you know if you are able to access it. For example, your company wants to know if someone you are about to hire has been arrested. That information is not allowed unless it resulted in a conviction. The reason for that is because many people have been wrongfully accused and arrested when they were innocent. But if a judge and jury convicted them of a specific crime, that is available for you to see in a background check on a company.

Most of the information you will need when doing company background checks is name, address, date of birth and social security number. If one of these is missing, it is still possible to find information but possibly not all of it. The more facts you have about the person, the better chance that you will have in getting accurate and an abundance of information.

Many research companies who sell this kind of data to the public are: LexisNexis, Accuring and Westlaw. You can get some info from all of these but one company, AutoTrackXP has been known to give consumers the most updated facts. But know what you are getting into. If you want to use these companies online, be aware that only about 30% of all the information about someone is online. So sometimes it’s better to call directly and ask how you can retrieve more details and more current info on someone or on a specific company.

Doing company background checks is a good thing. It keeps companies and individuals honest. And it allows the consumer to feel somewhat protected. So whether you are looking into starting a job with a particular company or if you’re a business wanting to hire someone, using these tools that are available for you is a very smart thing to do.