Parity checking is a simple, lightweight check used as a tool to verify that data that has been transmitted without errors. Parity checking is not 100% reliable as it does not verify the entire message. Instead, parity checking counts the number of 1 bits in the binary of the file being checked and if sets a parity bit to either 1 or 0 depending on if the total count of 1’s is even or odd. By performing this type of check, 50% of transmission errors should be caught.