Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

KYC checks have in the past resulted in me being unable to open a bank account due to a "discrepancy" between my SSN and my DOB (due to me being an immigrant).

The flip side of your comment is that 1 in 60 (including minors) people in the USA are on a watch list for financial crime.

I think more worrying as a society is not the risk to prosecution of financial crimes (this list being uncovered does not erase evidence of previous or current financial crimes in progress) is how those 1 in 60 people got to be on such a list in the first place.



That doesn't really sound like a lot, in the scheme of things. Almost 1 in 3 Americans (adults) have been arrested for a felony crime. (edit: have a criminal record)


I think you’re misremembering that statistic. 1/3 of Americans have some form of criminal record, but not all crimes are felonies, anyone with a traffic ticket counts.

https://www.ncsl.org/civil-and-criminal-justice/criminal-rec...


The 1/3 number I'm citing counts arrests without convictions

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/aug/18/andrew-cuo...

But on a second reading of that page, I think you're right, "criminal record" is more accurate. My point is the same, either way -- it's a lot of people.


Most traffic violations are civil infractions, not criminal (unless there's many repetitions of the same CI to elevate it to a criminal charge, it's not going to be on a criminal record).


Yes and no, in the same way that Social Security is and is not an income tax. A minor speeding ticket does and doesn’t get added to your criminal record.


Wow, I found this hard to believe. I still couldn't find the figure of % arrested for a felony, but I found a reliable looking source that 8% of adults have been convicted of one in 2010, so I find it very believable now. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5996985/


> Almost 1 in 3 Americans (adults) have been arrested for a felony crime.

That one is absurd. How do your governments (on all spheres) keep up? Do they even know who is arrested?


They... keep records? It's not like they have to memorize it lol


The keep searchable records so that criminals get to see a judge when their sentence finishes?

Or they keep local records that nobody looks at or know if they are correct?

Because if it's the first one, kudos for whoever created that system. Plenty of countries fail with way less prisoners/inhabitant.


Every arrest is logged into a database run by the FBI, along with the data (ID, fingerprints, description, arrest records, etc.). I don't think all states/jurisdictions are part of the information sharing program, but the majority are at least, and some of that data is even shared internationally when people go through customs IIRC.


that is false information




Consider applying for YC's Winter 2026 batch! Applications are open till Nov 10

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: