Background check: identity and history verification with a legal basis

A background check is confirmation, in official sources, that the person is who they say they are and that their stated history is true. On Coodesh, it is a step you add to any assessment: the candidate enters their CPF on an Identity Verification screen, and then the company runs the check and receives a PDF report with the data linked to that CPF, including official receipts from each source checked. There are three report types: Standard, with records and registration data; CNH, which adds driver's license validation; and Credit. Each applies to different situations, and the choice should follow what the role justifies.

They are allowed, but not for every role or every piece of information. The rule established by Brazil's Labor Courts is proportionality: the check must be directly related to the requirements of the role. Confirming identity, education and previous employment is broadly accepted. Checking criminal records and financial status is only accepted for specific roles, and outside of them the Superior Labor Court (TST) considers it discrimination with presumed moral damages, meaning the candidate does not need to prove harm. Coodesh was designed to give the company control over what to check and a record of why it checked; the decision on which roles justify each type of verification belongs to the company, with support from its legal team.

Only when the nature of the role requires it. The TST ruled, in a binding precedent, that requiring a criminal record certificate is legitimate in situations such as caring for children, the elderly or vulnerable people, security and surveillance, carrying a firearm, access to confidential information, handling money and roles where the law requires the check. For all other roles, the check is considered discriminatory. On Coodesh, we recommend that the company define in writing which careers allow criminal record checks and restrict the Background Check step to those assessments, instead of including it by default.

In most cases, no. Brazil's Labor Courts treat checking candidates' credit status as a discriminatory practice, based on Law 9,029/95, because debt says nothing about professional ability. The recognized exception is for roles with direct responsibility over money and financial assets, such as treasury, cashier and certain roles at financial institutions, and even in those cases the company must be able to demonstrate the link between the role and the check. The Coodesh Credit Analysis report exists for those specific situations. If the role does not fit them, use the Standard report.

Consent alone is a weak basis in a hiring process, because the candidate is rarely in a position to refuse, and the LGPD (Brazil's data protection law) requires consent to be freely given. That is why the safest approach is to base the check on the company's legitimate interest, with a documented proportionality test (why this role requires it, what will be checked, how long the report is kept), or on compliance with a legal obligation when the law or the industry regulator requires the check. The CPF and the report data are personal data even though they come from public sources, and they follow the purpose and minimization rules. On Coodesh, the candidate is told on the Identity Verification screen what will be checked and authorizes the check; the company, as data controller, is responsible for defining and recording the legal basis. We recommend validating the flow with your DPO or legal team before first use.

At the end, with finalists. Checking every applicant violates the LGPD minimization principle and multiplies costs unnecessarily; the report should only be run for people about to receive an offer, or after an offer conditional on the check. On Coodesh, the check does not run automatically: the CPF is recorded and the company decides when to run it. Technically you can run it as soon as the CPF is entered, but the recommended practice is to run it only for those who reached the final stage. The check is irreversible and consumes credits upon confirmation, so this manual control is intentional.

During the assessment, the candidate sees an Identity Verification screen, enters their CPF and authorizes the check of their public data. Anyone without a Brazilian CPF selects the foreigner option and continues with no penalty. The report goes to the company's dashboard, not to the candidate. This creates an obligation for the company: if any information in the report weighs on the decision, the candidate has the right, under the LGPD, to know which data was processed and to request a review. Namesakes in court records are common in Brazil, and a mention may not refer to the person. We recommend giving the candidate the chance to clarify before any negative decision based on the report, and recording that conversation.

The check is run by the provider Exato Digital, which specializes in verifying data in official sources, based on the CPF entered by the candidate. Coodesh acts as data processor for the hiring company and the provider as sub-processor, which means the chain must be covered in the data processing agreement between the company and Coodesh. Traffic between Coodesh and the provider is protected, the PDF is stored with access restricted to authorized users (admin, manager and business profile), and the viewing link is generated on demand with an expiration time. If your company's DPO needs details about the flow and the sources checked, the Coodesh team provides them.

The PDF report includes an overall indicator by category, a breakdown of each check and the official receipts from the sources, which prove the authenticity of what was verified. The result is usually available within a few minutes; during peak demand, it can take up to 5 minutes. The statuses on the dashboard show whether the check is ready to run, processing, available, out of credits or not applicable (when the candidate is a foreigner). Each candidate can have only one check per assessment, so it is worth running it when the decision is close.

Background Check works with credits purchased separately from the plan, with their own quota. The Standard report uses 1 credit; the CNH and Credit Analysis reports use 2 credits each. Before running, the platform shows how many credits will be charged and asks for confirmation. Foreign candidates who skip the step do not consume credits. To purchase or top up credits, talk to our sales team or use the billing area of the platform.