I haven't pulled the trigger and signed up for P411 or Datecheck yet.  My concern is my career has some thorough background checks.  It's not FBI application level or anything, but any sex misdemeanor, etc and I'm toast.  All I keep thinking of is that if I ran a background check company, I'd figure out a way to check these companies for applicants.  But, since I'm not using the service, I don't even know if that's possible.

Is there any risk of my info getting out to someone who really wanted to find it?

If the stakes are that high, stay away.

...so  if you want a risk-free approach then you need to find another hobby.  However, P411 is about as risk-free as you can get.  They are based in Canada.  They have an 800#, so you can actually talk to someone there about how to meet their screening needs in a way that makes  you comfortable.  I'd say it's likely you can work something out with them.  I was able to and have had no problems with mis-use of info.  Also, they claim to dispose of personal info once the clearance is granted.  Do they?  I can't prove it, but I haven't heard of anyone getting burned by them.  If they were careless with personal info it would destroy their business.
PS:  Of course you don't need P411 to hobby.  But the alternative is to use BP or other sites, which has other risks (B&S, LE, etc.) which, to me, are even greater.

I'm not sure how those verification sites work, but do you have to submit your work info if you can supply a few legit provider references instead?   A lot of established ladies are newbie friendly and I'm sure you could get the references you need in no time  Again, I'm not sure if they allow that or not... But that may be better than giving up your info... You never know who might have access to it!

xoxo Deya

I was always allowed membership based upon a number of references from ladies who were already members.  That was a number of years ago and things may be different now, I do not know.

The verification sites such as Date-Check and P411 that I have used do not make your personal information available to the ladies.  They claim to destroy that information once they have verified you.  So it's a double-blind system in some sense.  The provider doesn't know who you really are and you don't know who the provider really is but an intermediary has verified both of you.  But don't use the verification of the provider as an alternative of reviews because provider verification tends to be less stringent.

You control much of the information about you that the ladies see (on your profile) except for the verifications from ladies you have seen and your email address.  No phone number, employer, real name, etc is available unless you put it in your profile.  To use the service you provide your id number and email to the ladies you request to visit.  I think P411 had an internal contact system, whereas date-check is just your usual hobby email account.

Here is the risk:  You have to pay to join the verification service.  This can leave a paper trail that can be picked up.  Just like TER can as well.  The bigger concern is probably a divorce proceeding examining your spending habits than a standard background check.  The one benefit of date-check is that you can get a lifetime membership so you only have one charge on your card.

BTW, if you ran a company you might be better off checking the various blacklists for phone numbers.  That's why a hobby phone might be a good investment for you.