Background Checks: How far is too far?
2 Comments Published by clay September 16th, 2007 in Education, State and Local Politics.
Revealing facts you wouldn’t volunteer
Background checks have become so pervasive in the work world that you might as well count on undergoing one if you’re a candidate for a big job.
And as some employees of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently found out, a background check might be required even if you’ve been on a job for decades.
But what if, outside of work, you volunteer to mentor students, teach Sunday school, take residents of a senior center on outings or referee amateur hockey games?
If you volunteer for any activity involving kids, the disabled or the elderly, the chances are growing that someone will be taking a tour through your past.
In the wake of national shock over sexual scandals and violence involving public and nonprofit institutions, volunteering increasingly triggers background checks.
“It’s definitely a growth area,” said Les Rosen, president of Employment Screening Resources, a
Protests against background checks have been increasing along with their use. Last month, 28 JPL scientists filed suit in federal court to block a Bush administration directive that would require new, sweeping background checks.
“The thing that disturbed me is that we have to give them permission to look into anything they want to,” said Susan Paradise, a software engineer who has been with JPL for 22 years.
But even longtime privacy advocates, such as the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, say background checks may be proper for volunteer groups.
However, there are special problems when it comes to volunteer groups and privacy. A major company can be expected to have reliable procedures for keeping personal information private, but volunteer organizations might be unprepared to deal with documents that spell out criminal records, however minor, or that detail divorces, bankruptcies, civil lawsuits and the like.
“This could be an organization with an office in someone’s basement,” Givens said. “Or your records could end up rattling around in a box in the coach’s trunk.”
Not only could this information be sensitive, it could also be useful to identity thieves — especially if it includes a Social Security number, age and birth date.
I think there is a need to check the background of someone for certain jobs. I am not sure what they should be looking for or how far they should be able to go, but I like the CA law allowing the person who is checked to see what was unearthed.
I have some concerns.
(1) Do corporations and governments do enough to protect our information? I don’t think so.
(2) Who will oversee these volunteer groups to make they are protecting information?
(3) Whose role is it to make sure our information is protected? It seems like this should the role of the federal government and private industries. I have seen numerous companies advertising identification protection recently, but I haven’t read or seen much regarding the role of the federal government. I would prefer to see federal government handle an issue like this, rather than education (education should be a state responsibility solely).
(4) What responsibilities do employers have regarding how they use this information?
it’s America, they want to protect your info , yet at the same time show all of it to the rest of the world. Nothing is ever safe, not even a secret, like Ben Franklin said,” three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead”.
people just want more power, and knowlgde is power, and power corrupts. yes there are good honest men, but they are getting fewer and fewer these days.
it should be the federal that keeps all this information, if any one. because at least they can shoot the person who gets hold of this information. the companies should ask the government to notify them of their past, because if the government do have it then they don’t need it.
and the empolyers should use it with caution, use it in a way in which he wouldn’t mind another person using it.
most people now-a-days want there emploies to have a better background then they do, to make they didn’t do things that they did. people tend to set the bar really high for others, that they themself’s can’t pass.
and the idea of getting background check of people who volunteer, that’s idiotic, they’re volunteers they don’t work for you, if that becomes a law then most likely that only students who need to volunteer because of school will be the only ones volunteering. and if your concerned that he’ll do something bad then hold his hand when his working for you. but asking a volunteer, and those who have faithfully worked for you for years, to giver you their background info, that doesn’t make sense. why do you need it, so you can fire him for something he did at the age of five. again that’s how America works most of the time, it’s confusing to one who has common sense.
Hi,
You have given the information about your site is how to identify theft ,One of the most utilized types of background checks is the criminal background investigation.It is vital for the safety and security of both the business and those served that employers perform a thorough investigation of each employee.I visited one new site from criminal checks i got much more information about this criminal checks