In the past, government records were accessible only by it's own agencies. Now, as government records open itself the public, more and more institutions are benefiting from it. Companies dealing with personal and financial information require their workers to undergo a screening check; this would go the same for workers in the medical and insurance field. And now, more and more professions require background checks before hiring.

A typical part of a is the criminal record search. This would include a fingerprinting process to verify a person's identity. This type of verification is always preferred since there are always cases where two or more people could have the exact same name but fingerprints are always unique to an individual. Although a regular check would solely rely on a researcher's honesty to perform the check, government records are always considered to most accurate and comprehensive records available.

A database distinguishable by a person's fingerprint is maintained independently by each jurisdiction. So in background checks, it is always useful to know the previous addresses of your subject.