FBI Identification Record

monsterror

So, a few days ago, one of my buddies told me that the FBI is required to give any citizen they're record if requested. He said it had everything from employment history, relatives, friends, and arrest history. I'm intrigued as to how much the FBI knows about me, so I looked for some information. I found the page on FBI.gov to get this done, and I'm considering trying it out. Only thing I need to know, is if it's even worth the trouble/time/money.

Anyone seen theirs, and if so, what kind of information is actually on it?

locomotiveman

While it is true that they have to tell you that they have such a file, I'm uncertain if they are required to show it to you. You should know though that the request to know if there is such a file is considered reason to start one however.

The Cat

You'd have to lodge some sort of FOI request with them, but knowing the current political climate in the US, requesting your information will probably just net you a sheaf of 80% blacked-out papers and bump you on to somebody's watchlist for real.

Anyway, I doubt there's anything in the file that you don't already know unless you're the wrong type of politically active or some kind of crim, they're not likely to give a shit about you. Their budget is limited.

Szechuanosaurus

The Cat wrote: »

Their budget is limited.

Their time is limited as well. There's this myth that police agencies and intelligence services are somehow able to keep a constant track on every single individual in the world, as if they have some sort of semi-sentient quantum computer the size of the moon constantly analysing every single piece of data in the universe quicker than that data materialises and generating files, profiles and predictions on every person on the globe in real time.

In reality, these organisations are highly selective about the information they gather because if they bring in too much information it will overwhelm their analysts and render the agency just as inoperable as if they had no data at all.

Chances are if you request your file from the FBI, the only entry logged in it is going to be the date you requested the file.

Pants Man

Szechuanosaurus wrote: »

Chances are if you request your file from the FBI, the only entry logged in it is going to be the date you requested the file.

yeeeaaahhh, i'd have to agree with this.

think about it this way: there are ~300 million people in the US. the FBI has roughly 30,000 employees. given all the various shit that they have to worry about, it's kinda ridiculous to think they've got a file on you just because you're an American (although i've got friends who think that).

believe it or not, the government really isn't some crazy huge, omnipresent big brother that knows and sees all that you do. both in terms of population and geography, the US is a gigantic place. the Feds have to prioritize.

supabeast

I have friends working at the FBI. They grind away day after day looking for pedophiles, terrorists, and drug runners. They don’t keep files on random people, and have better things to do than send you yours.

Dreadmime

I think you're misunderstanding.

FBI Record = Terrorist Activity / Politically Motivated Activity. Controlled and run by the FBI on a "Need to Know" Basis.

NCIC Record = Law infractions. SPeeding Tickets. Traffic Tickets. Warrants for your arrest. Times you've been arrested. Etc. This department (the NCIC) is housed @ the FBI, and run *by* the FBI, but it's a seperate file.

It's very likely the "file" your friend got was his NCIC record. It's actually a pretty freely available record. You can contact a background checking company to perform a "full check" of your records, and they'll send you pretty much everything in it for a couple of hundred bucks.