An eye-opening video report by CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve (watch here) shows just how public our supposedly private information can be online.

The CNN report cites two examples – one somewhat embarrassing and the other downright dangerous – about people who discovered that pictures they posted online had reached far more people than originally intended.

• A newly-married man posted intimate pictures of his Hawaiian wedding on social networking site Facebook to share with “friends,” but when he mentioned it on micro-blogging site Twitter, a link was attached that gave more than 3,000 “followers” access to the photos.
• A mother was horrified to find a picture of her young daughter that she posted on Flickr – an online photo sharing application – used in an improperly suggestive way on another website. When she posted a warning, strangers used the Internet to find her phone number and home address. 

To show how easily available information is online, CNN gave the mother’s name – with her permission – to a private investigator who specializes in harvesting information from the Internet; he found 100 pages of possible links in less than two minutes.

Of course, posted photos are just the tip of the iceberg that is data privacy in the Internet age. CNN reports that more and more Americans are making their private information public on sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube, and warns that any time users hit the "send" button, their information is no longer their own.

While many websites try to provide customers with the tools they need to protect their personal information, the bottom line is that people are going to have to deal with minimal privacy in the future, according to the CNN report, which concludes with the following advice: “Privacy is dead. Get over it.”

However, while privacy may be dead, more people are realizing that personal data – including personally identifiable information (PII) such as name, address, birthday, and social security number (SSN) – needs to be protected at all costs and at every moment. One way individuals can view their own personal data and make sure that the information is current, secure, and accurate is by performing a "personal" background check on themselves.

While most background check providers only service employers and companies, MyBackgroundCheck.com – the nation’s leader in consumer requested and applicant supplied background checks – is at the forefront of the growing movement empowering individuals to take control of their personal information through personal background checks that they may use as jobseekers, students, volunteers, and consumers worried about identity theft.

To learn more about personal background checks from MyBackgroundCheck.com, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

pr@mybackgroundcheck.com

For most jobseekers currently looking for work, the more exposure they get through resumes, applications, and networking – both online and off – the better their chances are of finding work.

Unfortunately, according to an article in the Contra Costa (CA) Times, exposing personally identifiable information (PII) such as names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers (SSNs) and driver’s license numbers also increases the chances of jobseekers suffering from identity theft.

The Contra Costa Times reports that the World Privacy Forum – a nonprofit, public interest research group – receives many phone calls each week from jobseekers who have been victimized by identity theft while searching for work, a problem that should only get worse in a bad economy.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), over 50,000 Californians reported being victimized by identity theft in 2008 – the second highest rate in the nation – and employment-related identity theft beat out credit-card fraud and accounting to rank first with 20 percent of all identity theft complaints to the FTC from the state. Overall, the damage caused by identity theft in 2008 was nearly $50 billion.
 
In the article, the World Privacy Forum offers several tips for jobseekers on preventing identity theft, including:

• Avoid vaguely worded job offers;
• Choose job search sites and resume databases with good privacy practices;
• Never put a SSN on your resume (federal or state jobs are exceptions) but provide it when at an interview or when asked permission for a background check;
• Don’t scan IDs or driver's licenses for a job offer, and;
• Post a resume directly on the Web site of the employer or company you wish to work for.

Another way for jobseekers to protect sensitive personal information from identity theft is by performing “personal” background checks on themselves to ensure their employment data is current, secure, and accurate. Besides protecting against identity theft, these background checks can also be used by jobseekers for employment purposes, since most employers these days – 80 percent according to the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) – require job applicants to undergo some type of pre-employment background check before hiring.

Where can jobseekers find "personal" background checks? While most background check firms only service employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com – the nation’s leading provider of applicant-supplied background checks – helps both jobseekers and potential employers keep personal information safe from identity theft during the pre-employment background check process.

For more information on how personal background checks can help protect jobseeker data from identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MybackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

pr@mybackgroundcheck.com

An article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) – “More Job Seekers Scramble To Erase Their Criminal Past” – reveals that many jobseekers looking for work in a tight job market are rushing to legally clear criminal records that would appear on pre-employment background checks that delve deeply into their sometimes checkered pasts.

According to statistics cited in the WSJ article, millions of American jobseekers fear their criminal pasts will show up on background checks. While over 50% of American men had been arrested in 1967, that figure is now an estimated 60% due to arrests made in connection with domestic violence and illegal drugs, with the annual number of arrests for possession of marijuana more than tripling to 1.8 million from 1980 to 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

At the same time, the WSJ article notes that background checks have become more affordable and commonplace since the September 11 terrorist attacks, and more than 80% of companies performed background checks in 2006 compared with fewer than 50% in 1998, according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In addition, the article asserts that background checks can help lessen employer liability from workplace theft – which cost retailers over $15 billion last year according to the National Retail Federation – and workplace violence that costs billions more in legal costs and lost work hours.

In the WSJ article, two men – both veterans – were used as examples of jobseekers with criminal pasts affecting current employment opportunities:

• An Air Force veteran was refused temporary employment because a background check by the temp agency turned up a 1986 conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (when threatened, he once pretended a silver brush was a knife). More than 20 years after a "no judgment" finding by the judge and a $60 fine, the man is still fighting to erase the arrest from criminal records and background checks.
• A veteran turned jobseeker back from Afghanistan after serving in the Army for 15 months was unable find work with the New York City Police Department because of a 2002 conviction of illegal possession of a gun found on a background check, this despite scoring in the 98th percentile on his civil-service exam. The man is now serving another overseas tour.

With unemployment is currently above 10% and potential employers choosing from the largest talent pool in decades, the WSJ article clearly shows that a growing number of American jobseekers hope to boost their odds in a tough job market with “clean” background checks by clearing their criminal records of minor crimes through legal means, a process known as “expungement” in which official records of minor crimes may be shredded, erased, sealed, or blocked from view.

Along with expungement, jobseekers can make sure that their information on their criminal records is current and accurate by running “personal” background checks on themselves to see what potential employers will see. By purchasing their own background checks, jobseekers take a pro-active step in their search for employment, stand out from the crowded field of applicants, and show potential employers that they have nothing to hide. While most background check companies focus only on employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com – a pioneer in consumer requested and applicant supplied background checks – offers jobseekers the opportunity to perform “personal” background checks on themselves to help them find employment in a tight job market.

To learn how personal background checks help jobseekers find work, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com  

A report from ESPN.com reveals that while the New York Yankees were celebrating their record 27th World Series with a victory parade, some "overzealous" fans apparently got carried away and tossed unshreded documents containing sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers out of windows instead of more traditional confetti.

An auditor attending the victory parade for the 2009 World Series champion Yankees told The New York Post he found unshredded documents containing sensitive personal data – including Social Security numbers, financial information, pay stubs, court files, and balance sheets – in the mountains of shredded paper tossed from skyscrapers by office workers as the baseball players rode through Manhattan.

The founder of one financial firm said his company had reprimanded one “overzealous” employee for throwing records containing personal data out the window that should have been shredded, ESPN.com and the Post reported, and he was just one of several fans who apparently began tossing files containing personal data out windows when they couldn't get their hands on regular confetti.

While one can understand the enthusiasm of the crowd, personal data and the privacy of individuals should be protected at all times by companies to help prevent identity theft and fraud – even during a victory parade.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – a pioneer in consumer requested background checks – helps individuals perform “personal” background checks on themselves to keep the personal data contained in their criminal background checks current, secure, and accurate. For more information on personal background checks help protect personal data, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

tahearn@mybackgroundcheck.com

An article in the New York Times, “A Free Credit Score Followed by a Monthly Bill”, points out the simple irony of a website called FreeCreditReport.com – best known for its entertaining television commercials featuring a band consisting of three slacker friends singing songs about ruined credit report scores while waiting tables dressed as pirates or performing at a Renaissance Faire – that may not actually be free and could charge customers $14.95 per month.

According to IMPORTANT INFORMATION on the FreeCreditReport.com website, when consumers order their free credit report they also begin a free trial membership with a credit report monitoring service and will be billed $14.95 every month if they don't cancel the membership within a 7-day trial period. The website also discloses that, “under a new Federal law” (the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, or FACTA, of 2003), consumers have the right to receive a free copy of their credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies – Experian (which owns FreeCreditReport.com), Equifax, and TransUnion – and to request their free annual credit reports consumers must go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com.

Even with information about free credit reports available, credit report monitoring services are approaching one billion dollars in sales with nine million people spending between $650 million to $700 million annually, according to the Times article. To end the confusion over free credit reports, the Times reports that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has tried for years to get Experian to follow disclosure requirements for its “free credit report” ads and even asked Experian to give it the FreeCreditReport.com URL, but to no avail. So the FTC created its own site at FreeCreditReport.gov that includes videos spoofing the FreeCreditReport.com commercials.

Most recently, Senator Charles E. Schumer (D - NY), issued a news release asking the FTC to force FreeCreditReport.com and other companies like it to give away the credit report before asking for customers’ credit card numbers to make clear to consumers that the sites intended to charge them for credit report monitoring and not to confirm their identification. The FTC also has proposed new rules to prevent deceptive marketing of so-called “free credit reports” by February 2010, the Times reports.

The bottom line? Consumers should never forget the Latin phrase Caveat emptor (“Let the buyer beware”) when making any kind of purchase. While – according to another old saying – there may be “no such thing as a free lunch,” there apparently is such a thing as a “free credit report” as long as you know where to get it (or remember to cancel your free trial membership in time).

Along with credit reports, consumers should also be aware of the contents of their criminal background checks. While most background check companies focus only on employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com – a pioneer in consumer requested background checks – allows individuals to perform “personal” background checks on themselves that help kept personal information is accurate, current, and secure. For more information on personal background checks, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. To follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter, visit www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.