How to Conduct a Background Investigation on the Cheap

These days many employers, parents and even dating partners are using the Google search engine as a tool for conducting essentially free background investigations. Just type in the subject’s name, add a few descriptive phrases, and off you go—right?

In fact, Google can be an important part of the low-cost background investigation. But a proper background investigation should neither start nor end with a few words typed into a search field. If you let "cheap" be an excuse for lazy or haphazard, you might miss important information and get your organization in trouble for discriminatory or capricious hiring practices.

Let’s look at some of the problems with the Google-only strategy.

By Simson Garfinkel

Full Story: http://www.csoonline.com/read/120105/ht_investigation.html