Criminal background checks cover a lot of ground and serve an array of purposes. Employers are generally at the top of the list when it comes to who requests them. However, the Internet makes it easier for people to access arrest records, mugshots, and other information.
The control over what is released is rarely in your hands, but you can take power back by monitoring. You might be facing arrest records obstacles, but with the right help, you can overcome them.
The Basics – Criminal Background Checks
The first thing to know is that when an employer accesses your records, it checks national, federal, state, and county databases. Pre-employment and employment criminal background checks are considered legal investigations that inform their ultimate decisions to hire or promote.
The reasons that they want that information includes:
- Honesty
- Trustworthiness
- Potential threat assessment
- Protect company assets
- Mitigate risk
- Avoid lawsuits due to negligent hiring
How and Why Removal is Important
Employers are not the only people that can search your arrest or court records and mugshots. Regardless, the last you want is your worst day floating around the Internet for anyone to access.
It would help if you did not have to worry about how to get mugshots removed, but they can appear online within hours of an arrest. It is not only employers who want that information, and it can also affect nearly every aspect of your life.
You might need to pass a criminal background check for other reasons, including:
- Housing
- Credit Checks
- Voting Purposes
- Gun Permits
- College Applications
- Home Loans
Your criminal record can be in both public and private databases. Even if a judge rules your record sealed, it might come back to haunt you in the future. The entire thing is overwhelming because you have already gone through a terrible time, and it is now up to you to track who can access what.
An online reputation management service can not only help you with mugshot removal. They also specialize in criminal background check removal. You likely do not know all the corners of the Internet where your information can hide, but they can track it down.
Experts and Removal
Steps are available that you can do on your own. However, online reputation experts know everything there is to know about the removal process.
Contacting individual web admins can get tedious. You never know what obstacle you will face dealing with them, and it only means your records are removed from one site, not the entire Internet.
Google has tools and resources to help you gain control of your online reputation, but they are not entirely easy to deal with. Online reputation management services have the expertise to get it done promptly.
You can also obtain a lawyer and seek an expungement. The process might take a while, but having an attorney can relieve stress, too.
What matters is, even though you are facing a challenging time in your life, you can gain and keep control of your online reputation. You might need a hand – and that is okay.