September wrote:Can I do a background search on someone I know?
Sure you can. In the USA criminal records are public information. So are court trials and court records. Only in a few specific instances are records sealed, for example, juvenile records are sealed. A good background search company will collect public information on criminal convictions from almost every court in the USA, and there are about 30,000 courts in the USA. Since, all the court information is public to begin with, you can run a background search on anyone. However, if you are an employer, credit lender, or landlord, you need to get written permission from the applicant before you purchase a background check on the applicant. But if the employer, credit lender, or landlord gathers the information himself, like just using Google, then they do not need the applicant's written permission to do it. For everyone else, that is not an employer, credit lender, or landlord, there are no restrictions on doing a background search. You do not need anyone's permission to do it. You can do a background search by yourself, or you can purchase a background search, and you do not need anyone's permission.