Patent ID: 8037539

Claim:
A method of providing access to a candidate's personal background data, wherein the data have been verified, the method comprising: a. establishing a data record relating to the candidate's personal background data, in a digital storage medium, the data record having a candidate identifier that identifies the candidate and including (i) a set of components based on information supplied by the candidate, each component being potentially verifiable, and (ii) a corresponding set of query results obtained at a first time, the corresponding set including, with respect to each component, the result of a verification query to a third party; b. communicating the candidate identifier to the candidate; c. receiving after the first time, over a communication network, the candidate identifier from an outside user wanting verification of the candidate's personal background data, the outside user having received the candidate identifier directly or indirectly from the candidate; and d. distributing, to the outside user, over the communication network, in response to receiving the candidate identifier, an electronic document including the data record and an electronic authentication of the contents of the data record, the electronic authentication capable of revealing unauthorized modifications of the contents of the data record.