Can You Get Your Own FBI NCIC Record?

By: Ingvar Grimsmo

We all want to know what scoop “Big Brother" has on us in their databases. Especially the FBI. Here’s how you can get your own FBI file.

First a clarification: The FBI maintains the NCIC database. It does NOT keep a file on every American. The NCIC contains data on every person convicted of a crime, wanted persons, persons deemed dangerous to law enforcement, all drivers and more. The FBI shares this information with all law enforcement agencies. This is the database police query when they stop your car and “call in" your license plate and drivers license. The database does not record that you have been stopped, although in most provinces in Canada there is a system where all stops and contacts are recorded. Many local law enforcement departments have “local contact" database but they are not shared. So if you get stopped in your own town – there’s a chance there is a local record of this stop. But not on the NCIC database.

The FBI also maintains it’s internal databases – and that information might contain data on non-convicted persons. This database is an investigative file, containing information on any person of interest to the FBI. It also contains all the internal records on FBI investigations. This file is NOT available to the public under any circumstance. One example of this is the FBI Counterterrorism database. This database contains over 659 million records from the FBI and other government sources.

An FBI Identification Record, often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet, is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization, or military service.

If you have been convicted of a crime or wanted by the police you will have a record in this file. You can get a copy of your own file by following precise instructions. These can be found here: . The cost is $18 payable to the FBI. The request must be made directly to the FBI. There is no need to use a company or lawyer to do this.

Can you get a FREE NCIC background check? Yes, most non-profit volunteer-based organizations might get a FBI background check performed at the local police agency.

We are all familiar with the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). We can get to any database, right? Not really. The government will censor what they deem confidential. I have tried to get several files using FOIA and the government will respond but slowly. And many records will have black marker streaks covering what they deemed confidential. In one case I know there was a record – but the response was “no record found". In a perfect world we should be able to see what is in these databases, but in today’s world this is not so easy.

More information on the FBI NCIC database and background checks here:


For information on Financial Fraud:


Ingvar Grimsmo is a writer and webmaster on a variety of current topics.


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