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Comment by the_ancient | Hacker News Reader

Why? Are they Drunk when they pick you up? If not why does not matter if they were drunk 5 years ago, or 1 day ago, they are not drunk at the moment so that is all that should concern you.

I see you have a huge amount of faith in the legal system... That is sad

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Hi, I am the cofounder and I want to jump in. The Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates the background screening industry and gives rights to consumers. We cannot disclose offenses older than 7 years old. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-r...

I see nothing in there having to do with criminal charges. Only credit and financial records. Am I missing something?

No you are not. FCRA has nothing at all do to with criminal records and what is disclosed by the courts for a criminal background check which is often for life.

I know people that are in their mid 40's that are still denied employment because of drug possession charges then incurred in their teens.

Yes the FCRA regulates consumer reports and background checks are consumer reports even if they are not mentioned in the text. https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0157-employment-backgr... Please speak to a lawyer before making false statements.

Actually it appears we are both right.

Companies such as yours are prohibited from disclosing it because you are classified as "consumer reporting agency" however the disclosure of criminal records by non-consumer reporting agencies is not limited to 7 years.

1. FCRA has nothing to do with Criminal Records, if you think it does you might want to be looking for a lawyer or a new one if you did get legal advise.

2. My post said 5 years ago so even under your misguided time frame your company would still disclose this information

3. I am firmly against databases and service companies such as yours... I find it creepy and a huge invasion of personal liberty and privacy.

If someone got a DUI last week, I would NOT want them driving me. What's your logic behind thinking that people's actions shouldn't affect their future? Seems like the majority opinion here is similar to yours, which is absolutely confusing to me. "Who cares if they raped a child last week? They aren't raping you RIGHT NOW so it doesn't matter!"

There are multiple reasons for this, first and foremost even if you believe you should be allowed to know about criminals you may be interacting with I do not agree that most of that info should be publicly available in a simple REST request where anyone from Stalkers, to other criminals can get any information they desire on me simply by paying a small fee. That is an extreme privacy violation IMO. you are looking at only from the Rose Colored "Catch a criminal" lens, and not considering any of the consequences.

Further I do not trust the government or the legal system at all, and have no reason to believe a person convicted of DUI or raping a child under the current legal system was in fact guilty of those charges.

Lastly even if a person is a criminal I do not believe in the notion of a Scarlet Letter society which is what this company is companies like it are attempting to create. This effectively kills any Second Chance a person that made a mistake in the past has. You forever make them second class and ultimately encourage them to commit more, and probably ever increasing violent crimes

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