Does everyone have a paper trail, of their life? Do you think that there is one? How much information do you think is stored about you?

I believe that my age and medical records are incorrect. The government, tax man, school, university and family have most of my paper records. For Fun I Google talljasperman and read all my old questions and interactions in the past four years.

I had to explain all my past misdemeanor and felony convictions for a job.

I had some 25-year old misdemeanors. I submitted all the court and police records I could find. Investigators looked into my past.

My infractions were youthful hijinks, involving booze and disturbing the peace.

I got the job.

No animals or humans were harmed in my crimes

We all have a paper trail. It starts from birth. I think there are records out there for some of us that we have no idea exist. I’ve, as part of my job, searched through the archives and have read ASIO files that have been released because they are more than 30 years old. It’s amazing the amount of information in those files and the type of information they have. Photographs, transcripts of comments made, assumptions agents have made about the person’s character. Most of us probably don’t have an ASIO or FBI/CIA type file, but for sure there are files out there on us.

You can ask to see some of them under the Freedom of Information Act here. You need to know what to ask for though. If you don’t know a file exists, how can you ask to see it? Some files I am certain they can refuse to release.

When I emigrated I had to go to an interview. I’d filled in forms about my family but at the interview, the interviewer asked me questions about things that weren’t covered in that form. My brothers were in the military so I am guessing the info came from their files. It did make me realise how much information those who need to know can gather or access about us.

And some of it is digitised yes. Some of the people in those archive files are still alive but there is information online from those files now. I don’t think they have much say about whether they agree with it or not.

Birth Certificate
school records from every school I ever attended (a dozen at least)
marriage certificates
employment applications and all related employment records from every place I ever worked (way more than a dozen)
hospital records of several admissions
doctor records from every doctor I ever had (probably a dozen or so)
social security information
IRS information
all bank transactions from my entire adult life of 52 years, including dozens of credit cards
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma family records
various veterinarians and pet hospitals
various volunteer organizations
every place I ever registered my children

All of the above records that @YARNLADY mentioned.
Plus some made up ones that some slimebag with a connection to the outsourced payroll “service” my previous company hired, who used my info to send additional checks to a post office box in another city 500 miles away.
The IRS tracked me down saying I did not claim all that income. I didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. They were extremely helpful and worked with my company to help unravel it. Thank you IRS! Really! (I wonder how often they hear that.)
That was 10 years ago and I still get credit bureau challenge questions asking if I lived in that city. I hope they caught the perp.

They outsourced to a place in India, by the way, and cancelled the “service” within a year. Penny wise, pound foolish.

In terms of government having documents, the typical birth certificate. Actually, I was born in Walter Reed, so their records are government I guess and I was a military dependent.

Social security card when I was in first grade.

Driver’s license first in MD, then FL, then NC, then back to FL, then TN, then back to FL again. By the way, even after being out of FL for 7 years my license information was still in the computer including cars that had been registered under my name even if they had been sold long ago.

Marriage certificate at age 25 and some sort of federal file because my husband became a green card/permanent resident attached to my citizenship shortly after we were married. Does the fed have a file on everyone? I was finger printed for the INS/ICE paperwork.

Medical, a ton of medical. Unfortuneately I had a lot of medical troubles. Definitely some information in the medical files is incorrect.

Credit report has all sorts of information. Does that count?

Tax returns have all sorts of information also.

@LuckyGuy The IRS has twice found mistakes in my tax return that worked in my favor. One was a mathmatical error, and the other I had failed to count a payment I had sent them during the year.

Tons, unfortunately. All you have to do is google your name, and you will see a lot of stuff.