SSN vs. SN background check

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With the development of modern technology has come the revolution that is the internet, which, in itself, and brought about many of its own revolutions.

Some may consider them a burden; some may consider them a blessing, but an overwhelming number of internet users are registered to and active users of at least one social network. These could include Facebook and Myspace, just to name a few.

At first, these sites seemed like an ingenious idea, connecting us with anyone and everyone, and turning the power of communication into an even stronger tool. Slowly but surely, these sites became the focus of bad press, with cases involving socially unacceptable behaviour.

A recent and rising trend has seen employers take advantage of the opportunity to get some real insight about potential employees, by using social networking sites as a means of ‘background checking’ or screening of an individuals application prior to any offer of employment or interview. This trend has been noticed by the media, who have notified the public, who were unaware of this trend.

It has been met with public backlash. The public consider their social networking habits to be a practice of free speech, and do not feel their applications should be based on their everyday musings and online posts. Some users, disgusted by this, have made their own pages more difficult to access unless you have the right permissions, usually ensuring that an employer can not access the information without you knowing it.

This practice, however, may only be secure for so long, as companies and authorities now seek to work with the social network provider one on one in order to obtain the information they need. A recent case in Canada, for example, was an individual’s health benefits being paused, as payments were made to her based on her suffering depression, and her Facebook contained images of her appearing happy. The individual was certain her profile was securely hidden, and that checks could not be performed without her prior knowledge.

Many are calling into question whether or not these types of searches are ethical and fair to the applicant. Many consider it an invasion of privacy. However, one has to consider, if the applicant had the names and details of various representatives within your business, would you feel comfortable with them looking for information on you that is not work related? And, either way, as we live in a democratic society, should our freedom of speech feel so impeded?

Either way, we believe that a far more accurate provider of information is to perform background searches for them based on their Social Security number. This is an industry standard practice, and has been for a long time. It is more in keeping with the applicants expectations of the searches you need to perform, in order to gain more information when considering their application of employment. Use our site today, and perform a check that will satisfy both you and your applicant. Involving yourself with the practice of using social networks to perform background checks could involve you with some bad press, so use a socially legitimate means of gaining the information you need right here.