To some, even the idea of running a background check when dating can seem invasive. After all, “it’s not that I don’t trust you, but… I don’t trust you.” With so many dating horror stories circulating, doing a check is not a matter of “if,” but of “when.” To learn the technical details of background checks, you could use a source like UnMask. This article is about the reasons you shouldn’t put it off.
Is It an Invasion of Privacy?
Discovering personal information about someone can feel intimate, particularly if you just started dating. However, a quick check can reveal important things like a secret spouse or a criminal record. It’s not an invasion of privacy if the information is publicly available. It’s not hard at all to find out what someone majored in or where they grew up. All it takes is to type the person’s name along with anything else you know about them into the search bar. You’ll get their social media at the very least. You can see what they like and dislike and perhaps find out what they do for a living in case they haven’t told you. You could also try typing their phone number into Facebook or Instagram’s search bar. The site will pull up their profile. Seeing that someone posted racist or sexist comments or memes can bring people to cancel a date. A mugshot – even more so. But what if you don’t find any of that? When you meet the person, be careful not to give yourself away. For example, don’t mention how much you “love” Lord of the Rings too.
Checking for a Criminal Record
Background check services can supply work records, criminal records, court records, and property ownership information. You never know what you’ll find, considering that 20% of Americans have a criminal record. If you and the person you’re dating have planned a romantic getaway and they suddenly start acting strange, they might be hiding something. It doesn’t have to be a significant other. You can run a national, state, or county check if you suspect your date has a sordid past. We would recommend a county check because authorities prosecute most crimes on that level. To run this type of check successfully, you need to know where the person has lived most of their life. You will also need to send someone to the courthouse to pick the records up or go yourself. Some organizations will send a licensed investigator to do this for you.
Running a state check is a better idea if you don’t know the county or counties where they have lived. Some states have databases with county records, while others have just a few county records available. It’s incredibly important to make sure the man you’re dating isn’t a registered sex offender. Sex offender registries are public, and each state is required to maintain one. The national sex offender registry incorporates all territorial, state, and tribal registries. Neighborhood Watch also has a tool which you can use to run a quick and free sex offender search at any time.
Search Google
Don’t limit your efforts to criminal background check services. Their information only includes convictions and official charges. Google can offer plenty of information, which you’ll probably find useful. Turn off your browser’s personalization settings and type the person’s name and city into a search bar. This way, you can get a better idea of their friends, hobbies, and interests. They might dabble in acting or stand-up comedy. It would be interesting to get an idea of their sense of humor, wouldn’t it?
Happy Endings Don’t Make the News
The internet has become the most common way for people to meet. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a study, according to which heterosexual singles were far more likely to meet someone online than through friends and family. Traditional ways of meeting partners have been in steady decline since 1940. According to a 2017 survey, just under 40 percent of heterosexual couples met online, up from 22 percent eight years earlier. These statistics make it easy to conclude that positive online dating experiences are the norm, but two people hitting it off after meeting online won’t make the news. Meeting someone who turned out to be a psychopath, on the other hand, will. Better safe than sorry.
Photo by Louis Hansel @shotsoflouis on Unsplash
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