Automated background checks
At SentryLink, we like to keep up with the latest technology, so we were interested to learn about a new device that can automatically run a background check on someone entering a building. As reported on Kiosk Marketplace, a company called LobbyGuard Solutions has released a kiosk that will automatically run a background check against the national sex offender registry, as well as an optional internal list, before allowing them entry.
Here is how it works: A person swipes their driver’s license to get a visitor’s badge. The kiosk reads the information from the license, which will include name and date of birth. Using a broadband connection the kiosk then dials the home company to do the sex offender check against their database. It appears as if they are working off of the free national sex offender registry. It will also check against any “do not enter” list that the customer has set up.
While it is too soon to know if this particular device will catch on, kiosks have already proven themselves in corporate environments that are limited to employees. There are several ways in which access can be controlled, with fingerprint authentication as a great option for both convenience and security. Fingerprints also eliminate the problem of “buddy punching” for jobs where workers are paid per shift.
Although the sex offender check is innovative, I suspect that the market for that particular feature is likely to be limited to places frequented […]
What is an OFAC background check — and should I use it?
Many customers have asked us about OFAC, named for the Office of Foreign Assets Control. In this post we explore what OFAC is, what an OFAC check does, and whether it is appropriate for use in corporate employment screening.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is part of the U. S. Treasury. It is the official body that determines whether or not an entity or individual is permitted to do business with the United States. Sanctions, first used in 1812 against Great Britain, are part of the tools used to apply financial pressure to a group. The government learned a while ago that it is easier to interfere with or track the flow of criminal funds, than to prosecute the underlying criminal activity. Witness the case of Al Capone, convicted of income tax evasion rather than murder, and the successful use of anti-racketeering laws to reduce Mafia influence.
With the events of 9/11, OFAC’s attention turned to terrorism. The desire to identify terrorists increased in the business community as a whole. And in the context of criminal background checks, the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list became more important. This is
….a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific.
This list was primarily designed for use by financial institutions; they are not permitted to deal with anyone on the list. A […]
The origin of variable sentencing for criminal convictions
In the United States and many other countries, sentencing is a separate phase of a criminal trial. Once a defendant has been convicted, a judge will typically determine his punishment in the sentencing phase — and that punishment can vary. We are so used to this that the origin of the tradition is rarely questioned. But why would two people who committed the same crime serve different jail sentences? You might assume the purpose is to allow the circumstances of the crime to be taken into account, and indeed this is its main use today. As it turns out, variable sentencing has a far darker past.
Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species was published in 1859. Its impact was enormous, and like many new developments in science it was used and abused to justify current social practice. For that time period, this included the Western belief in the inferiority of non-white races and the lower intelligence of women. Scientists believed they could predict intelligence by looking at the shape of a skull. Fortunately, these ideas have been relegated to the dust heap by today’s scientific community, but they were quite influential in their day.
One of the new movements created was criminal anthropology, spearheaded by Cesare Lombroso. He believed that much criminal behavior was hereditary, that a criminal type existed, and criminal tendencies could be predicted by objective physical signs. Thick skulls, low foreheads, and long arms were all the mark […]
The FBI’s National Criminal Information Center
Today we look at the mother of all criminal record databases: the National Criminal Information Center, or NCIC. This is a compilation of various criminal record files that are maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The files of greatest interest for background check purposes tend to be the list of wanted persons, and individuals who have been “charged with serious and/or significant offenses”.
The NCIC actually has seven categories of people in its database. In addition to the two mentioned above, it includes:
- Missing persons.
- People the Secret Service believes are a danger to the President or other protected individuals.
- Members of violent gangs. Note that you do not have to be arrested to make it into this category.
- Members of terrorist organizations. As with gangs, proof is optional.
- Unidentified persons. Includes the dead, as well as the living who don’t know or can’t express who they are.
The criminal record files are backed up by fingerprints and other identifiers.
It is clear from looking at this list that NCIC is designed to cover a lot more than criminal convictions. There are also few restrictions from placing someone in the database. Since NCIC is effectively limited to law enforcement use, this did not cause problems for employment screeners at first. But with the events of 9-11 there has been increased interest in using NCIC for employment screening. If you are a hazardous material truck driver, as of May 2005 you must pass an […]
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 […]