This is why I find the German system so civilized: Nobody but you, the police, and the courts have access to your criminal record. Nobody but the police has a

This is why I find the German system so civilized: Nobody but you, the police, and the courts have access to your criminal record. Nobody but the police has access to your arrest record. Nobody is allowed to publish your name in relation to reports of arrests or convictions, or collect such data. Employers can request from you a criminal record check (because you're the only one who can order one), but this is only done for the most sensitive of jobs and only for relevent offences. You can also have most offences expunged from your record after a time. Thus, you don't end up spending the rest of your life wearing a scarlet letter.