Criminal History Check with Free, Detailed Results

'Sounds implausible, right? I thought so too. So did Paul M. Bush over at Legal Dockets Online (he blogged about this yesterday). The truth is that CriminalSearches is providing just that. I tested it out and the results look good. However, there doesn't appear to be any contact (though you can fill out an e-mail form to inquire about partnering with them) or "About" information on this site. Who is running it and why? What are the privacy concerns?

The search results provide information about the crimes committed, sentences, codes violated, and additional information about the individuals (including date of birth). They even provide information about the source, so you can follow up with the government institution.

I did a search on an individual I know to have a record. Sure enough, the information was there. In fact, there was more information there than I had obtained through the government site.

I conducted some random searches and found that even traffic violations are showing up at CriminalSearches.com. One example is someone who rode their bicycle on the wrong side of the road. It's hard to imagine how that information could be useful to anyone, but there you have it.