Importance of Background Check

In the United States, people also do background checks for those people who are wishing to purchase handguns from licensed firearms dealers. It is also done especially for people who want to purchase restricted firearms like machine guns, suppressors, explosives, or large quantities of precursor chemicals and concealed weapon permits. It is also needed for people who want to work in a position with special security concerns like trucking, ports of entry, and airline transportation.

Information for background check can depend on the reason for which it is conducted. So a person who is seeking employment at a minimum wage job would be subjected to fewer requirements than a person applying to work for the FBI. Information from this check can include criminal records, citizenship or immigration or legal working status, litigation records, driving or vehicle records, drug tests, education records, employment records, financial information, licensing records, mental or medical or physiological evaluation records, military records, social security number, travel records and other interpersonal interviews.

Unfortunately, this information can sometimes be used for illegal purposes like unlawful discrimination or employment discrimination, identity theft and violation of privacy. There are also controversies on drug test and credit checks for employment. There are also some people who are uncomfortable with the idea of investigators poking around in their personal histories. This is because background checks can give information that is not relevant, taken out of context or just plain wrong. Thus, though this can be beneficial, it also has some disadvantages.