4 ms·

I have no idea what DB2 was. It's my understanding that every country in the world wants to know the criminal history of anyone asking for a visa for any reaso

I have no idea what DB2 was. It's my understanding that every country in the world wants to know the criminal history of anyone asking for a visa for any reason (the host country may ignore that history, if it believes the crimes were politically motivated). And it's my understanding that INTERPOL allows countries to get at least some criminal records information. And there is clearly some system in place for countries to make extradition requests -- which would require some criminal history information. So it's not clear to me that the US must have wholesale access to Guyana's criminal records system, or that it must be illegally gathering data to populate DB2. Even without INTERPOL, I would expect countries to have treaties to share some criminal records information. If Guyana is trying to capture a criminal, clearly it's in Guyana's interest to ask countries to help prevent that criminal from fleeing.

mschuster91 12y ago
> It's my understanding that every country in the world wants to know the criminal history of anyone asking for a visa for any reason I'm actually fine with that. And if I ever apply for a visa, I gladly sign a waiver allowing the respective country to request the data from my country. But I am not fine with any government in the world being able to research my criminal record without authorization! Push, not pull. > If Guyana is trying to capture a criminal, clearly it's in Guyana's interest to ask countries to help prevent that criminal from fleeing. There's a system for this: take away the criminal's passport and don't let him out of the country. That's a job of regular Guyana border police. edit: oh, and who guarantees that (e.g.) the US respects expiration dates? In Germany, records have to be entirely wiped after certain dates (5-20 years, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bzrg/__46.html http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bzrg/__46.html) - but I highly doubt that the US respect this and just keep the data instead.
- learc83 12y ago
  >But I am not fine with any government in the world being able to research my criminal record without authorization! Criminal records are a matter of public record in most countries (including the US). That means that anyone can search your criminal history, not just governments. There may not always be a central database, but the information is out there.
  - mschuster91 12y ago
    Back when the rules placing criminal records in public were drafted, these records were usually kept at a courthouse, thus greatly restricting their use to those who actually traveled to the courthouse/archive and manually searched. These days, everything can be searched online and especially copied and stored everywhere, far after expiration. And this is not a good development at all.
    - learc83 12y ago
      Yes, they used to be stored in a courthouse, but most people didn't leave the area they were born in either, so for the average person everyone you were likely to meet knew about your past. Criminal records were always meant to be as public as possible. I do have a huge problem with the content of criminal records, because I have a huge problem with what we consider criminal--drug offenses mostly. I also worry a lot more about the non-criminal mistakes we make being available for anyone and for all time.
      - eru 12y ago
        > I do have a huge problem with the content of criminal records, because I have a huge problem with what we consider criminal--drug offenses mostly. In the US you also have lots of really bad laws about sexual offenses (which aren't real offenses by any sane standard; like teenagers sending each other nude pictures).
      - maxlybbert 12y ago
        > I do have a huge problem with the content of criminal records, because I have a huge problem with what we consider criminal While the US wants to know immigrants' criminal history, the US isn't required to care about all of the crimes that show up on the record. For instance, convictions for performing or having an abortion (say, in Brazil) probably won't result in a denied visa.

mschuster91 12y ago

> It's my understanding that every country in the world wants to know the criminal history of anyone asking for a visa for any reason I'm actually fine with that. And if I ever apply for a visa, I gladly sign a waiver allowing the respective country to request the data from my country. But I am not fine with any government in the world being able to research my criminal record without authorization! Push, not pull. > If Guyana is trying to capture a criminal, clearly it's in Guyana's interest to ask countries to help prevent that criminal from fleeing. There's a system for this: take away the criminal's passport and don't let him out of the country. That's a job of regular Guyana border police. edit: oh, and who guarantees that (e.g.) the US respects expiration dates? In Germany, records have to be entirely wiped after certain dates (5-20 years, http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bzrg/__46.html http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bzrg/__46.html) - but I highly doubt that the US respect this and just keep the data instead.

learc83 12y ago
>But I am not fine with any government in the world being able to research my criminal record without authorization! Criminal records are a matter of public record in most countries (including the US). That means that anyone can search your criminal history, not just governments. There may not always be a central database, but the information is out there.
- mschuster91 12y ago
  Back when the rules placing criminal records in public were drafted, these records were usually kept at a courthouse, thus greatly restricting their use to those who actually traveled to the courthouse/archive and manually searched. These days, everything can be searched online and especially copied and stored everywhere, far after expiration. And this is not a good development at all.
  - learc83 12y ago
    Yes, they used to be stored in a courthouse, but most people didn't leave the area they were born in either, so for the average person everyone you were likely to meet knew about your past. Criminal records were always meant to be as public as possible. I do have a huge problem with the content of criminal records, because I have a huge problem with what we consider criminal--drug offenses mostly. I also worry a lot more about the non-criminal mistakes we make being available for anyone and for all time.
    - eru 12y ago
      > I do have a huge problem with the content of criminal records, because I have a huge problem with what we consider criminal--drug offenses mostly. In the US you also have lots of really bad laws about sexual offenses (which aren't real offenses by any sane standard; like teenagers sending each other nude pictures).
    - maxlybbert 12y ago
      > I do have a huge problem with the content of criminal records, because I have a huge problem with what we consider criminal While the US wants to know immigrants' criminal history, the US isn't required to care about all of the crimes that show up on the record. For instance, convictions for performing or having an abortion (say, in Brazil) probably won't result in a denied visa.