Methodology & sources

The company background check is honest about where every number comes from and what it can't confirm. Here's exactly what it queries, how it matches names, and how current the data is.

Last updated June 16, 2026

The principle

Every query runs in your browser, directly against the official source (or against a static data file this site serves). Nothing is sent to a Whetstone server — we run none — so your searches are never logged by us. The tool reads only public U.S. government data that is in the public domain.

The four sources

1. SEC EDGAR — is it a public company?

To resolve a company name to a Securities and Exchange Commission filer, the tool matches against a snapshot of the SEC's official company_tickers.json (every exchange-ticker-listed filer). On a match it pulls that company's live record from data.sec.gov (the official Submissions API) for industry (SIC), state of incorporation, filer category, headquarters, and the most recent filing. Scope: this covers companies with an assigned exchange ticker. Private companies and non-ticker filers won't appear — so "not an SEC filer" is the normal case for most businesses, not a negative signal.

2. Consolidated Screening List — is the name on a federal watchlist?

The tool screens the name against a snapshot of the U.S. International Trade Administration's Consolidated Screening List (CSL), which bundles 12 federal export-control and sanctions lists:

Matching is name-based and dependency-free, using the same scorer as Whetstone's paid US Government Watchlist Screen: names are normalized (lowercased, de-accented, punctuation stripped, tokens sorted so word order doesn't matter), then scored with the higher of Jaro-Winkler and Dice-coefficient similarity (0–100). The browser tool only reports matches scoring 90 or above and also screens listed aliases. Guards reject over-short queries and lookalike/anagram confusables to cut false positives. A match is a name resemblance, not an identity confirmation — verify against OFAC Sanctions Search before acting.

3. USAspending.gov — does it receive federal money?

The tool queries the official USAspending.gov API for award counts by type (contracts, contract vehicles, grants, direct payments, loans, other) and the largest awards by dollar amount, with awarding agency and period. Awards cover federal fiscal year 2008 onward. USAspending matches by recipient name and can group similarly-named recipients, so treat totals as indicative of scale, not exact.

4. EPA ECHO — environmental enforcement & violations

The tool queries the EPA's ECHO REST service (get_facility_info, facility-name search) and reports the number of matched regulated facilities, how many carry current significant violations, the count of formal enforcement actions and inspections, and total penalties. EPA matches on facility name text — results can include unrelated facilities or subsidiaries that share a word, so confirm each facility on ECHO.

How current is the data?

SEC submissions, USAspending awards, and EPA ECHO are pulled live at the moment you search. The SEC name index and the watchlist are dated snapshots refreshed periodically; the snapshot date is shown with the result, and a link to the live official source is always provided so you can confirm against the current list.

What this tool deliberately does not do

The standard. Like every Whetstone tool: the methodology is published, it names its sources, it defaults to the conservative reading, and it tells you what it can't know. Back to the check →