individual criminal histories are generally considered to be public records in the united states and are often accessed via criminal history background checks, but "access and use of fbi-maintained criminal history record information has been traditionally limited and controlled in large measure to protect the privacy of the individuals to whom the records pertain." the federal fair credit reporting act imposes "fair information-practice requirements by consumer reporting agencies that report public record information, such as criminal history records, for employment purposes," and some state consumer-protection laws impose more restrictive regulations.