The Identity History Summary Is Not an Employment Background Check

The phrase "background check" covers two things that share almost nothing in law or in practice. One is an individual obtaining their own FBI record under 28 CFR Part 16, Subpart C. [1] The other is a commercial screening report assembled about a person for an employer, a landlord, or an insurer.

Identity History Summary

The FBI record of retained fingerprint submissions, disclosed to the subject of the record. [2] Fingerprint-indexed.

Employment screening report

A report compiled by a commercial provider about an individual, typically for an employer's hiring decision. Name-and-identifier indexed. Not an FBI product.

Noncriminal-justice purpose

The category under which an individual's request for their own record, and certain statutorily authorized suitability determinations, are handled. [3]

Determining which document is actually required is a three-question exercise.

1. 1

   Step 1: Who is asking?

   A foreign immigration authority or a licensing body generally wants the FBI document. An employer running pre-hire checks generally does not.

2. 2

   Step 2: What words are used?

   "Police certificate," "penal clearance certificate," and "certificate of good conduct" in an immigration context point to the FBI document.

3. 3

   Step 3: Are fingerprints mentioned?

   A requirement to submit fingerprints is a reliable indicator that the FBI document is what is meant.

1. Ongoing

   Terminology drift

   The colloquial spread of "background check" across both regimes is the source of most of the confusion this article addresses. Agency documents continue to use the precise terms.