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Licensing and other guidelines require a New Jersey Private Investigator to have proper permissible uses before running a database search. A New Jersey private Investigator cannot willy-nilly conduct a background investigation.  It is essential the client and the private investigator by extension have a proper permissible use beyond curiosity.  I have had clients call me wanting to do a background investigation on someone they want to date. There is just not a permissible use to be running someone’s background as part of a dating service. Don’t get me wrong, some New Jersey private Investigators will do the background investigation, I will not.  I have extensive law enforcement experience and I have seen many police officers get themselves in trouble cutting corners.

As the former Chief of the Jersey City Police Department and after a thirty-five-year law enforcement career I retired. I brought knowledge, skills, and abilities into my New Jersey Private Investigation Firm https://cowaninvestigations.com/about-us/. During my extensive law enforcement career, it was always important I keep myself out of trouble while performing well. I brought this same attitude to my New Jersey Private Investigator Business. However, aside from performing within established guidelines regulating background investigations and keeping myself honest, I also am able to keep my clients from getting in trouble.

One area New Jersey Private Investigators are often asked to conduct background investigations is cheating spouse investigations. Conducting of a background investigation by a New Jersey Private Investigator during an infidelity investigation is a tricky area https://cowaninvestigations.com/new-jersey-infidelity-investigation-1/.  First off, there is an absolute prohibition of conducting motor vehicle registration checks for the purpose of identifying a cheater.  I hear many New Jersey Private Investigators complain about this fact, but I personally support this policy for purposes of safety issues. I have often been contacted by clients regarding cheating spouse investigations. These distraught clients request I run registration checks on certain cars. Operators of vehicles the client suspect their significant other may be having an affair with. The answer I provide is that New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicle’s Rules and regulations restricts a New Jersey Private Investigator from securing registration information infidelity investigations.

The federal law protecting an individuals motor vehicle information is known as the Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA). The Act prohibits state departments of motor vehicles and others to whom the DMVs provide information from disclosing a driver’s personal information without that driver’s consent. State Division of motor vehicles that violate the Act are subject to civil penalties.  The Driver Privacy Protection Act does not prohibit  the use of driver information in background investigations, it regulates. A New Jersey Private Investigator can use driver information during a background investigation,  use must be within the regulations.

Under the Driver Privacy Protection Act, personal information contained in a motor vehicle record may be disclosed for:

use by any government agency, including any court or law enforcement agency, in carrying out its functions, or

to any private person or entity acting on behalf of a Federal, State, or local agency; and

for use in connection with any civil, criminal, administrative, or arbitral proceeding in any Federal, State, or local court or agency or before any self-regulatory body, or pursuant to a Federal, State, or local court

ew Jersey Private Investigator conducting a background investigation data-base needs to meet GLBA guidelines. Without going into the weeds GLBA essentially protects consumers financial information from improper disclosure.  A New Jersey Private Investigator conducting a background investigation is a business, not a consumer.  A Private Investigator Business is not an individual with personal nonpublic information. Because of this a private investigator business cannot be a customer under the GLBA.   A New Jersey Private Investigator Business will be liable for compliance with the Gramm-Leach- Bliley act while conducting New Jersey Background Investigations.

The photo to the left is similar to a box that will pop up on New Jersey Private Investigator Data-Base Search Engines.  If background investigations conducted by New Jersey Private Investigators may return financial information, the private investigator will need to check a box.  My New Jersey Private Investigator business is centered around working for private clients.  As a New Jersey Private Investigator my specialty is Alimony/Cohabitation Investigations, Child Custody Investigations and Infidelity Investigations. As a general rule I will not perform background investigations in cheating spouse investigations (infidelity),  there must be an attorney involved.  However, the exception to the GLBA I mostly use is the first box on the top of the GLB Exceptions.  “To protect against or prevent actual or potential fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims or other liability”. Believe it or not, there is a whole lot of justification for conducting a multitude of background investigations just by the nature of the definition of the key words in that particular exception.

I hope this article on background investigations has been helpful. I will be writing another article on the different types of background investigations on particular private investigations