Americans have a right to privacy and the government needs to put the owners of TruthFinder to task
Can You Trust TruthFinder.com? Is It Legit & Does It Come With Any Privacy Concerns?
by Liz Mumbi | Staff Writer | Eternal Affairs Media
Finding out the truth about someone is quite important in the modern world of the internet where a person can easily pass themselves off as someone they are not.
Think about it, you might be eager to get back into the dating game after a divorce or breakup and decide to take advantage of the internet to find a love partner since it is the easiest way anyway. Even if you meet the person offline, there is still no guarantee that the person will be honest. We have often heard of how blind dates have turned into death traps. You might also be a landlord or an Airbnb owner who needs to know the truth about a potential tenant or guest. This is where a site like Truthfinder.com comes in handy.
There are many other similar sites available online that claim to provide background check but most of them turn out to be scams. A number of of them do not provide detailed information while some have inaccurate or old information. Others do not have the legal mandate to allow you to use the data they offer.
TruthFinder is one of the few legit background check sites and it is also one of the most popular sites for these services. Most people who have used it can attest that the site works as advertised. The site also has a user-friendly interface. The site is quite easy to navigate and it is also mobile-friendly. Therefore, you can download the app on your phone if you don’t want to access it through your desktop or laptop.
It has a crisp and simple design. All you need to do when doing a search is enter the name of the subject of your search and the location they are staying in at the moment. Afterward, you will be required to narrow down your search by using filters and hence improving the quality of results. Various loading screens will emerge which are beautiful and possibly there just to entertain you as you wait.
After a short period of waiting, the site will display a list of people who fit your information. After that, you need to select the correct person from the available options. Information on their addresses and social network make it easier to identify them.
TruthFinder’s reports show comprehensive search results which consists of possible relatives, location history and contact info. They also go the extra mile and provide astrological information such as horoscopes on people you are searching.
History of TruthFinder
This site has been in existence since 2014 and was started in San Diego, California. Since it was established, it has done numerous background checks; the number is in the tens of thousands.
When performing a background check, this site screens millions of records such as public records and social network data. It does all that in just a few minutes. The icing on the cake is that TruthFinder scans private or confidential data too. Basically, it gives clients a peek at other documents besides public records.
TruthFinder then shows you the useful information that it gets in different reports. It assists customers get hold of difficult to get arrest records, unknown contact details or social media profiles just to mention a few.
The main difference between this site and its rivals is that it scans both public as well as private records. Only a handful of services provide this because it makes their sites more costly and complex. This means that the data you can obtain from a majority of competitors is something you can possibly get if you spend some time researching it yourself.
Using TruthFinder to do a background check could give you extra details and a more thorough search on a person than if you just searched their name on the internet. You could also retrieve additional information about previous photos, police reports and locations.
Another key thing to note about TruthFinder is that the site owners understand the sensitive reasons why its users may want to use their site. Therefore, the person that you are searching will never find out that you were searching their information on the site since they will not receive any notification alerting them about what you are doing.
Advantages and Disadvantages of TruthFinder
Every service has flaws and TruthFinder is no different. However, it has many attributes and features that make it worthwhile.
Advantages
- Android app is available
- The reports have current information
- Scans the dark web to find out whether your personal details have been compromised
- Straightforward information about the Fair Credit Reporting Act so that you understand how you can use the reports legally
- You can utilize it to monitor yourself
- Offers advanced search options and filters to allow you get refined results
- Monthly membership plan offers access to unlimited reports
Disadvantages
- You have to pay a monthly subscription, you cannot buy one report
- There are ads that pop on the screen but though they help keep the cost down
- It only has data about people who are in the U.S
- You have to pay additional money to download reports in PDF format
Main Features of Truthfinder
You would be happy to learn that an employer cannot decline an employment application just because they have done a background search on TruthFinder. This limitation enables TruthFinder to keep their members safe as well as the people who are being ‘background-checked’ on their site.
Even though TruthFinder provides background checks, it also offers other services. The site has the following data:
- Reverse phone lookup
- Public records
- Phone books
- People search
- Family tree
- Dark web scan
- Criminal records search
- Background checks
Background checks
Background checks are one of the most common services from this site. They are the main service that the company is famous for. You should keep in mind that TruthFinder might not find data in all the different groups for everybody. The result that you obtain will rely on what data is obtainable. You may expect to find the following facts:
- Personal information such as contact information, date of birth, age and first and last name
- Location information such as likely neighbors, Local demographic data, Census data, Whether the addresses are commercial or residential and Old and new addresses
- Information about assets such as bankruptcies, liens, rental properties, sale amount, property tax and mortgages
- Online profiles like news stories, social media profiles, personal websites and blogs
- Information about employment and education such as a full employment history, degrees in higher education and education background.
- Different types of relationships such as relatives, business partners, possible neighbors, divorce records, marriage records, anyone who shared or shares an address whether residential or business, friends and acquaintances
- Criminal records such as the case number and court name, the date of the offense, an offense description, the category of the charge and the location of both the arrest and the crime.
- If there is a sexual offender, you will find their status of sex offender and any registered sex offender who resides near your address.
Dark Web Scan
It is important to know whether your personal information is being sold on the dark side of the internet. This feature is meant to help you learn if your data has been compromised or if you are an identity thief victim. Identity theft online has become a greater worry in the recent times particularly as we make more aspects of our lives digital. This site also allows you to personalize its dark web scan. You can do this by selecting what sections of your personal data it will search for and keep track of in the internet.
The information that you can check in the dark web includes membership or retail cards, medical identification numbers, social security number, passport number, phone number, driver’s license, credit and debit cards, bank account numbers and contact information.
To carry out this task, TruthFinder analyzes many different servers and sites on the dark web. These include forums, bulletin boards, file transmission, peer to peer file-sharing networks, web services, chat rooms and social media feeds.
Reverse phone lookup
This service allows you to research the owner of a given phone number. It is a helpful feature for those times when you get a call from a new number that you don’t know. TruthFinder scans public records to find out the name of the person who owns the phone number.
Support and Reviews
TruthFinder has great customer support. Live chat is only available during weekdays starting from 7.00am to 7.00pm Pacific time. There is also an FAQ section that provides answers to the most commonly asked questions. Most reviews about the site are positive and users say that the site has accurate and the latest information.
Security
TruthFinder encrypts all information that they send or receive. This means that your information as a site user is secure. In addition, due to the quantity of information that you can obtain, the service frequently scrutinizes the site for possible criminal actions such as hackers. This protects the safety of customer data and also helps make sure that cybercriminals cannot alter information. Thus, TruthFinder puts measures in place to protect all data on its site and ensure that it stays accurate.
Costs
The basic membership will cost you 428.05. Reverse phone lookups are charged at $4.99 each month and it will cost you $2.99 to download one background check report.
Improvements that TruthFinder can make
TruthFinder has several inconveniences and it would be great if the site owners can address them; these include
Widen the database
Presently, the reverse lookup tool in TruthFinder can only be used by people who stay in the U.S. Customers who would want to reverse check international phone numbers or any other information will be forced to search elsewhere. Widening the database to contain information from other countries would be an amazing addition to the site.
Single Search Option
This is another feature that is missing in TruthFinder. If you don’t require to perform numerous background checks each month, it can be too expensive to pay a monthly subscription just so you can do one search.
If this feature existed, it would mean that you can buy just a single search option and obtain all the information you needed. Nevertheless, if you perform multiple background checks each month, Truthfinder may be a great tool for you.
Free Trial
Another flaw that Truthfinder has is that is does not provide a free trial. Other online products offer a free trial for their items which gives you a chance try out the product and determine whether it is good enough for you. However, it is easy to cancel the membership options if you are not satisfied with the site’s services.
How to use the information
TruthFinder explains that users should only use the information from their site for individual reasons. You should never use it for making any business decisions. You can also not use it to make decisions associated with employment, tenant screening and customer credit.
According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the only place where you can obtain data to make business decisions is a Consumer Reporting Agency.
Is it legit?
Yes it is legit.
Canceling membership
If you want to cancel your membership you can easily do that by doing two things; cancel through the phone by calling the number (800)-699-8081 or cancel your membership on the internet by going to the membership setting button on the TruthFinder’s site.
Privacy Concerns
The very fact that this service functions so well raises privacy concerns in the public’s minds. It begs the question, do we want strangers knowing everything about us? It is good that the site can help us find out the truth about other people but when you look at the other side of the coin you realize that it also means that someone might look up your personal information and probably use it against you.
The U.S. Constitution protects the public from unreasonable searches and confiscations by the state through the Fourth Amendment. Americans have a right to privacy and the government needs to put the owners of TruthFinder to task and have them explain exactly what they do with all the information in their database. They need to be grilled about this important issue just like Mark Zuckerberg was questioned about Facebook.
