How to use SNA during background screening in Russia?

Method of data mining in social networks was widely discussed in LinkedIn Group “ProP.I.” in March 2010. Most questions were about pretexting in social networks and ability to use the data collected in the court. I paid attention, that there are many approaches to problem solving, depending on regional traditions and regulations where PI operates.

That’s why I think it is reasonable to say a few words about the way data collected in social networks can be used in background screening in Russia.
First of all lets’ divide the law and the ethics. According to the law one can use any data collected in public accounts unless he is trying to use this data against the owner of the account. Most PIs I know is working on the edge of the law and it is reasonable to take for granted that reliable expert will find the way to get information he needs in compliance with local regulations.

Taking into consideration the above statement, pretexting in social networks is the matter of ethic, not the law.

There are 2 different situations:
1. PI uses unknown for the subject name and personality asking him “add me as a friend”. Pretty girl in bikini or sales person with “unique opportunity” are good examples of these fake pages. If the subject accepts this offer I see no reason to speak about unethical behavior or offense against the law. The subject made his own decision and thinks that the data on his page can be given to the stranger.
2. PI uses fake page of the subject‘s classmate or relative. Even if this way gives PI the data he needs I think that it is unethical. This practice must be stopped and may be even prosecuted by professional community.
In my practice I met several “subject’s fake accounts” where competitors or detractors of the subject publish compromising materials.

How can we use social networks’ pages as a valid data if we are not even sure that this page actually belongs to the subject of the investigation? – There’s no other way except validating this data through other informational sources or during investigation.

Social networks can give us only preliminary information, nothing else.

What kind of data can be collected during basic pre-employment screening?

First of all you have to take into consideration that in Russia you won’t ever get standard criminal background or credit history report of the employee.

Criminal records: There are no “open for public” databases of criminal records in Russia. Moreover, except for serious (or organized) crime, police has no federal database of crime participators. That’s why if we try to get criminal background records of the employee, the task should be split into 2 different steps:

1. Check if the employee was named in the Federal database as an offender or terrorist (pay attention that this source is also “for authorized use only”)
2. Check local database of criminal records to find if the employee was prosecuted or detained by the police (no chance to get this data unless you have a strong relations with local authorities).

There’s also another way of collecting criminal background information – check illegal databases of organized crime participants and offenders which is available on the black market. This database is not up to date (newest records dated 2002) and doesn’t pretend to be full. I can’t recommend you to rely on this source of information, but if you try to save your time & money, this is the only source you have. Elsewhere you will have to “investigate” and get information directly from police databases.

Credit history: It is a long story which started in 2004, when the Federal Law 213-F3 “About credit history” dated 12.30.2004 was published. According to this Law, several Credit bureaus are to be organized. Banks are welcomed but not obliged to sign agreement with Credit bureaus and disclose information about their debtors. As the result there are databases of Russian citizens credit history, but they are not reliable (if the Subject get financial credit from the bank which is not in the disclosure program, this data will be hardy available). With the permission of the Subject you can get information about his criminal background, but the only legal way to get credit history of the Subject is to take his Power of Attorney.

So, what will we find in the basic background screening report of Russian employee?

National registration data of the Subject (First name, Second name, Fathers name, date of birth, passport number, registered address). Registered address (so called “propiska”) is a kind of legal address. Very often registered address doesn’t mean place of residence.

Tax ID (Individual tax number, INN) – identification of the private person in tax police

Driving license (including expiry date)

Relatives of the Subject – only if they are registered at the same address.

Ownership of vehicles (VIN, registered number, date of registration)

Ownership of premises

Involvement in legal bodies

Criminal background – only Federal database data (see above)

I’ve seen different reports produced by local and international companies but the truth is that this data is the only valid information about the employee that can be collected without investigation.

Pre-employment screening of Russian citizens (1)

I think it is a good idea to start from pre-employment screening of Russian citizens. This task is common and widely used by international companies during start-ups or development of their Russian brunches. I had several dozens projects of top-managers and regular workers background screening for EU companies in Russia and wish to share my experience of cooperation.

LAW: Personal data of Russian citizens is protected by the Federal Law “On the Personal data” #152-FZ dated 07.26.2007. Unless it was published on the Internet or printed media, personal data can’t be collected or analyzed without written permission of the Subject. Debates follow application of this Law since the date of its publication, but main rules are simple:

• “If you wish to make pre-employment screening of your applicant – take a written permission to check his personal data”
• “If you wish to have your employees under control, add the disclaimer to the Labor agreement that personal data of employee can be regular screened by internal audit department or sub-contractor of the company”

That’s all for today. Next post will be about the data and informational sources for pre-employmant screening in Russia.

It is a good day to start a new blog