Table of Contents
Personal Background Check – Know Your Online Reputation 

How to Conduct a Personal Background Check on Yourself

If you’re in a situation where someone is checking into your past, such as for an interview for a job, an application for housing, or a lease negotiation, you may feel nervous about the findings of a self-background check. For example, you may feel concerned about whether you’ll be approved for housing. It’s easy to conduct a personal background check on yourself!

Background checks of sufficient quality, like the one offered by BeenVerified, also allow you to hide your personal information from the public eye if you’re unhappy with the results of your background check report.

You may discover what kinds of data are available to you and evaluate whether they fairly and properly portray you if you search for your name online. You may gain a better grip on these checks by becoming familiar with the components that make them up.

>> Run a Background Check With BeenVerified >>

What Is a Personal Background Check?

It’s possible to find out what information about oneself is available on public records by doing a personal background check. This might include things like a prior conviction on your record. A prospective employer or customer can discover information about you that’s accessible to the public if they do a personal background check.

You may take several routes to discover what information about oneself is publicly available. Even though employers conduct most checks, anybody may ask for one. If you do a personal background check on yourself to confirm your history, you may feel more comfortable engaging in business with another individual or dating another individual.

What Will You Find If You Run a Background Check on Yourself

A detailed analysis of your identifying information in federal and state public records is required to complete a self-background check. You may find out more about yourself by searching public records using your name, email address, or phone number as the identifying information.

When you search public records on your own, you have the potential to unearth a great deal of information about yourself. Your identity, including your name, date of birth, address, educational level, career history, relationships, prior residences, criminal history, judicial history, sexual offenses, social media profiles, and assets, may be revealed.

If you want this information, reviewing public data by hand will only get you a little. If you use a professional agency that does personal background checks, there’s a good chance that the information you unearth will be more accurate.

Personal background check services can search their massive databases of public and federal records for any information that may be relevant by using the data from your identification documents. After that, an easily viewable and distributable report on the personal background check is created from the information.

  • Liens
  • A record of employment 
  • A complete name
  • Aliases
  • Your age, as well as your birth date
  • Photographs
  • Documents from courts
  • Licenses to carry firearms
  • Obtaining the required authorizations
  • Social media profiles
  • Previous educational experience
  • Bankruptcies
  • Records of criminal activity and arrests

>> Check Out BeenVerified >>

Why Should You Run a Background Check on Yourself

See What Potential Employers Could Discover About You

HR will investigate your online presence, social media profiles, and any other information available to the public if a firm is considering employing you. Even if you’re not currently looking for work, it won't hinder your chances of being hired if you’re acquainted with the knowledge accessible by doing a simple search on Google.

Check for Incorrect Criminal Convictions

The efficiency of a government department is directly proportional to the quality of its workforce. As a result, we need to be prepared for the likelihood of blunders occasionally. If you have a similar name to someone who has a criminal record, there’s a chance that the record may be connected with you by mistake. This might happen if you’re arrested or charged with a crime. 

Victims of criminal identity theft may not realize that someone has saddled them with a criminal background until they’re detained for a traffic infraction, the officer runs a search on their driver's driver's license, and they’re jailed on the spot, according to Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan customer data, and advocacy organization that was formed in 1992. If you have a criminal history, contact the relevant government agency to see if you can get any inaccuracies corrected. If you do, you’ll need to provide proof of the error.

>> Visit BeenVerified >>

Find Out if There's Anything About You on the Dark Web

BeenVerified, a business that does complete personal background checks in the United States, claims that your personal information may be traded on the black market. Even if you have yet to gain experience with it, navigating the dark web may be a challenging experience. Consequently, very few individuals can traverse the dark web, much less search for private information on it.

Your personal information, such as the numbers for your credit cards and bank accounts, the login credentials for your social media accounts, and the information on your driver's license, is in grave danger of being stolen and sold on the black market.

To stay one step ahead of con artists, you must obtain the help of a trustworthy background-checking organization.

Discover Fake Social Media Accounts Using Your Personal Information

Since there are so many phony social media accounts, "How do I report a fake Facebook account?" has been added to the list of frequently asked questions.

Someone may mimic you on social networks using photographs and information about you that are publicly accessible on your account without your permission or consent. It’s conceivable that a fake social media account using your name and/or photograph has been created.

Even if you put in a lot of work, it could be tough to locate people trying to imitate you since the person who steals your identity and uses it to build a fake profile on social media might be smart enough to block you.

Review Long-Forgotten Posts That You or Other People Made

Consider all the posts and comments you've created online and the time invested there.

You could have previously shared a viewpoint on a public platform that is at variance with your present viewpoint, or you might get a buddy who uploaded some images from a crazy party you didn't want anyone to see. Either way, your past actions can embarrass you.

No matter where or what you're doing, you must remember these forgotten items.

>> Consider BeenVerified >>

How Do You Run a Background Check on Yourself

You need to control the information about yourself that is accessible to the public, and the best way to accomplish so is to do a background check on yourself. You could use a personal background check service to complete the procedure more quickly and easily.

Using BeenVerified, you can discover information that cannot be located using conventional search engines. A credit check on you conducted by BeenVerified may turn up information similar to

  • Education and jobs
  • Public photographs
  • Social media profiles
  • Civil court records
  • Personal information being sold on the dark web
  • Criminal, arrest, and traffic records
  • Possible relatives, associates, friends, roommates, and ex-lovers
  • Registered assets (vehicles, real estate, etc.)
  •  A detailed location history report
  • Contact information

By requesting the relevant government institutions, you can determine whether the information in your public record is accurate. While doing your internet searches, you may utilize any of the many search engines now accessible.

It's possible that verifying your information will require some effort, and not everyone has the know-how to identify potential security flaws. BeenVerified provides a fast and painless solution to each of these problems you may encounter.

You can take responsibility for your life by going online, inputting your name, state, and location, then making a payment and obtaining a report.

>> Use BeenVerified >>

How to Run a Personal Background Check on Yourself 

You may be asked to produce your background check for verification if you contribute to a charitable organization, apply for a job, or attend college. Can you even fathom what they could discover about you if they look into it? Investigating your past could lead you to uncover this information.

The following is a list of the several checks that may be done on people's backgrounds. Besides your academic qualifications and driving history, many companies will also check applicants' criminal record records. These companies consider this one of the many factors when making hiring decisions.

Court Records (County, State, and Federal)

There’s a possibility that anything in your history may hinder you from finding gainful employment. Using an internet site that does criminal self-background checks, you can determine whether you have any arrests or convictions shown on your record.

It's possible that a statement from the court (or courts) where your allegations were brought would reveal whether you have any prior arrests or convictions. You must contact the state, local, and federal courts to confirm this information.

A trip to the county courthouse may require the paperwork. To get copies of cases heard in a county court, you must request them in person. The best way to seek records from a county court is to show up in person.

If an arrest happened over seven years ago without resulting in a conviction, employers could not access the arrest record under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If a previous conviction shows up in a self-background check, you may request an explanation for its inclusion.

Driving Records

Each state has its own set of regulations that determine how and when a driver's self-background check should be documented, and these regulations might vary from state to state. If you’ve ever had a driver's license in a state, you can access your driving record by visiting the website of that state's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

You may be required to pay a fee to get data in certain states. Not every prospective employer may look at your past driving record. One of these is often necessary for occupations involving a significant amount of traveling, such as those held by nannies, buses truck drivers, and so on.

>> Run a Background Check With BeenVerified >>

Credit Report

If you want to show that you can be entrusted with money, prospective employers should look at your credit history rather than your credit score before deciding whether to hire you before making a final hiring decision. Even minor mistakes in your credit history might have a significant impact.

It's in your best interest to keep a close eye on your credit report. Because of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction (FACT) Act, you can get a free copy of your credit report once every twelve months from each of the three leading credit reporting organizations. 

You can learn the following from reviewing your credit report:

  • Your current degree of financial obligation
  • What percentage of your salary goes toward paying off the amount of debt you have
  •  The number of times someone has requested a copy of your credit report
  • The customer accounts that have been sent to collections

Remember that your credit rating isn’t part of a free credit history and must be bought separately. You may get your credit report for free. If you discover a mistake in your credit history, you can get it deleted according to the steps outlined by the FTC.

Education Report

For certifying an individual's educational level, employers or other institutions may engage a third-party agency such as the National Student Clearinghouse or request official documents of a candidate's diploma and transcripts. Instead, the National Student Clearinghouse may be used.

If you believe your transcripts will be required, request copies. Since a potential employer or other organizations can ask for them, check carefully to ensure they are error-free.

Students may get a copy of their transcripts and have any errors fixed following the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Online Footprint

Seventy-seven percent of companies use social media for employee recruitment, according to research conducted in 2013. You should always assume that your profiles on social media will be checked as part of any employment, educational, or volunteer opportunities you apply for.

Look up your name and current location on a search engine and see what comes up.

Just look up your name and current location on Google and see what comes up (make sure you disable all personalization settings in your browser first). Be sure to double-check your social media's security settings (several pointers are available online if you are unfamiliar with how to do this).

How Do You Run a Personal Background Check On Yourself?

Before applying for a rental home, a course of study, or a new job, it’s essential to check your background, credit report, and online footprint so that you may contest any mistakes. One of the most excellent methods to maintain track of your records is to do personal background checks frequently.

>> Try BeenVerified Today >>

FAQ – How to Run a Personal Background Check on Yourself

Based on research into the conviction source data found in online criminal conviction databases, self-background check companies have access to a sizable database of people convicted of criminal offenses.

There seem to be hundreds of sources, some of which include municipal courts, administrative offices of state courts, departments of state prisons, and many more. By using the billions of records supplied by third-party data sources, we can improve the accuracy and breadth of your search results.

How Current Is the Personal Background Check Data I Am Searching?

A personal background check service compiles information from various sources open to the public. These sources include state administrative offices of the courts, county courts, state departments of prisons, and many more.

It’s not up to us to choose how often we get updates from data sources. It's only one of the many things that set us apart from the rest of the pack, but we make tremendous efforts to gather and keep the data we have. 

>> Try BeenVerified >>

DISCLAIMER: You may not use the non-FCRA-approved services mentioned in this article or the information they provide to decide about consumer credit, employment, insurance, tenant screening, or any other purpose that would require FCRA compliance. These services don’t provide consumer reports and are not consumer reporting agencies. (These terms have special meanings under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 USC 1681 et seq., (“FCRA”), which are incorporated herein by reference.) 

The information available on our website may not be 100% accurate, complete, or up to date, so do not use it as a substitute for your due diligence, especially if you have concerns about a person’s criminal history. The services we mention do not make any representation or warranty about the accuracy of the information available through our website or the character or integrity of the person you inquire about. For more information, please review each service’s Terms of Use.