Criminal Background Checks

[GernBlansten]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for verifying the worthiness of adult leaders. I'm just not convinced BSA will actually do the background checks or be vigilant with my SSN. Kinda like having the drivers license numbers on tour permits. My council doesn't verify or check them. They just stamp the permit and file it. The information provided is not used for any productive purpose.

 

My wife is a volunteer volleyball coach. The league she coaches in has an agreement with the local PD. She had to go downtown, show ID, they did the background check and faxed it to the league office. Seems like a secure system.

 

And how about drug and alcohol abusers? What's next, pee in a cup?

[infoscouter]

I don't know whether I'm worried about what my council will do w/ my SSN.

 

Apparently lots of people don't care. I have mentioned previously that I work in a library. As a result I see the insides of many wallets as patrons dig out their library cards for me. You wouldn't believe, in this day and age, how many people walk around with their Social Security cards in their wallets!! All of the articles you read about identity theft say what a bad practice this is. Our books on recovering from identity theft are in heavy use, yet people don't seem to do the simplest things to protect their information. I am much more concerned about having my mail stolen (happily, I have a locking mailbox) or a credit card number misappropriated by a restaurant employee, than I am about my council.

[Eamonn]

I don't think I have anything to hide??

I'm in no way scared or afraid of the check.

But..

I have seen DE's collect adult application forms and place them in a case on the back seat of their car.

What happens if the car is stolen?

Applications are left in unattended offices in the Council Service Center.

I'm not sure but I think I remember hearing that the company that does the checks was a victim of having its computers hijacked (or whatever the term is?). I seem to remember that there was a very long period of time from when it happened and the company and the BSA telling anyone that it had happened.

I have for work been well checked!!

But I work with convicted criminals, while I'm sure that no computer base is 100% safe. I do tend to think that I'd sooner place my trust with a agency like the FBI or the State Police than some company that the BSA choose because they came in with the lowest bid for doing the checks.

Eamonn.

[packsaddle]

The background check will be a waste of resources for my application. And I'm fairly certain that BSA definitely WILL fail to keep my SSN confidential. But that's OK. I'm also certain that fairly quickly they'll accidentally mix my info with evmori's and probably others. They're that bad at keeping a database. So they can have my SSN.

 

Anyone who wants to eliminate the problem of identity theft with regard to credit can do so by getting a credit freeze. It only costs $30 and if you don't give out your password, no one will be able to access your credit.

 

[GernBlansten]

My credit rating is great and I'm not using it right now so someone else might as well use it. Just don't abuse it. Never know when I might find that perfect one man tent and need to whip out the plastic.

 

I keep waiting for the ad at the top of the page to promote that guy who puts his SSN on a truck bragging about how his identity is protected. LifeLock isn't it?

[Gold Winger]

". I do tend to think that I'd sooner place my trust with a agency like the FBI or the State Police than some company that the BSA choose because they came in with the lowest bid for doing the checks."

 

I understand that the Feds outsource much of that work now and they use the same company as BSA.

[Eagle1982]

It's quite possible to run background checks with simply a name and address. I don't trust all troop volunteers to keep my SSN secure. I don't completely trust council to keep my SSN secure.

 

I had the same issue when volunteering at our church and had to pass a background check, I asked what they were doing to ensure the security of the data, and they had nothing. But they were able to do the check based on name and address.

 

 

[Gold Winger]

That's true. The FBI (actually a contractor) does gun purchase insta-checks based on name and birthdate with a city of residence. SSN is requested but not required. If something strange pops up, they request more info and investigate further. Never takes more than a couple days.

 

Maybe BSA ought to ask a gun dealer to run checks on all the adults. It would be free and fast. :-)

[packsaddle]

I've purchased numerous handguns and the background check has never taken more than a few minutes. I'm in the store and out with a gun in less than 20 minutes. But then, this IS the South...eeeeeeehaaaaaa!

[Gold Winger]

"I've purchased numerous handguns and the background check has never taken more than a few minutes."

 

That's why it is called an Insta-check. You're lucky that there's no nefarious person named Puck Saddle, your check might take a couple days.

 

Lots of things will cause a delayed response. Same first and last with different middle initial. Names with spelling that is close (Marc vs. Mark) or variations on a name (Rob vs. Bob) Overall the system works pretty well.

 

The funny thing about the whole system is that very rarely are people who shouldn't be sold a firearm prosecuted for attempting to buy a firearm. Chuck Schumer said that wasn't the purpose of the insta-check. Go figure.

 

 

[Stosh]

I totally own my home. I have no credit cards, I owe no one anything, and my credit rating really sucks. Anyone that wants it can have it. I couldn't get a loan on it if I tried, but if they want to give it a try, go for it. By the way, I do teach Personal Finance MB!

 

Stosh

[Eamonn]

Stosh

Your posting reminded me of my dear old Dad.

Dad ended up being a fairly wealthy man.

I tend to think that he didn't really understand credit, he never had or used a credit card. Never financed a car (He never ever bought a new one!!)

One year he sent me over to Ireland to buy a house that he wanted and loaded me up with cash. You should have seen the fuss that caused in the Irish lawyers office.

Him and my Mother had their own way of doing things!!

She never worked outside of the home, he gave her the weekly housekeeping money in cash. She somehow managed to save what she could putting money into Building Society accounts (Kinda like Credit Unions.) She put th cash in and when she wanted cash visited the office and took cash out. When my Dad died we had to teach her how to write a check, as she never had written one.

This might sound strange but back then people in the UK got pay packets with cash inside and there was little need for ordinary working people to use banks.

A lot of this seems to have rubbed off on me.

I do have credit cards, but rarely if ever use them. I tend to wait until I can pay for something before I rush out and buy it.

We still have some small home town banks where I live. I use them for my business accounts, we have a wonderful working relationship and they have been very understanding in the past.

Sadly it seems that local small town banks are on the way out something which I feel will hurt small local businesses.

Eamonn.

[jstephens42]

Last I heard BSA uses Choicepoint. I've also heard some very bad things about them, but they seam to be the 'standard' that everyone uses. They offer a service that lets you verify that you have no criminal record and give a passcode to another person so they can see this info. If BSA is just going to give your SSN to Choicepoint, you might as well do it yourself and verify the information is correct.

[badger]

The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion effort to build the world's largest computer data_base_ of peoples' physical characteristics, a project that would give the government unprecedented abilities to identify individuals in the United States and abroad.

Digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns are already flowing into FBI systems in a climate-controlled, secure _base_ment here. Next month, the FBI intends to award a 10-year contract that would significantly expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives. And in the coming years, law enforcement authorities around the world will be able to rely on iris patterns, face-shape data, scars and perhaps even the unique ways people walk and talk, to solve crimes and identify criminals and terrorists. The FBI will also retain, upon request by employers, the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks http://backgroundsearch.com so the employers can be notified if employees have brushes with the law.

[sdcc57]

I have a question which I haven't seen addressed above.What is the current national policy concerning registration for potential volunteers who have various criminal offenses? What offenses are considered? Only felonies? Only those comitted as an adult?

My council had a terrible experiance when I served on its board with a former summer camp director who was convicted of several charges of abusing his staff.As I recall the legal advice we received was the BSA would automatically pull the registration for those convicted of offenses regarding abuse of youth.But for other offenses(such as "white collar" crimes)it was not automatic,and handled on an individual basis.

Is this still the case?