A class action complaint filed against a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) on April 16, 2012, alleges that the Defendant reported inaccurate criminal data obtained from an “instant” criminal record search without courthouse confirmation, and also that there was allegedly no notice to the consumer who was the subject of the search. The suit also alleges that such acts were in violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that protects consumers from inaccurate or irrelevant information and failed to meet the standard of accuracy and fairness mandated by the FCRA. (more…)

To help employers examine their background screening process against state and federal laws to ensure legal compliance, safe hiring expert Attorney Lester Rosen, CEO of San Francisco-area based background check firm Employment Screening Resources (ESR), will present the session ‘Extreme Caution Advised: Dealing With Federal and State Laws Regulating Pre-employment Screening and Safe Hiring,’ at the HR West 2012 Conference on Tuesday April 24, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. PST in the South San Francisco Conference Center. For more information, visit: http://www.hrwest.org/?q=content/407-extreme-caution-advised-dealing-federal-and-state-laws-regulating-pre-employment. To obtain the session in a PDF format after the conference, visit http://www.esrcheck.com/HRWest.

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The National Employment Law Project (NELP), National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), and Community Legal Services, Inc. (CLS) recently sent a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) providing information on a proposed Summary of Rights and regulatory changes to strengthen the protections found in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regarding criminal background checks on job applicants for employment. The letter to the CFPB is available at http://www.nelp.org/page/-/SCLP/2012/NELPrecommendationstoCFPBforFCRAenforcement.pdf?nocdn=1. (more…)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s chief privacy policy and enforcement agency, recently issued a final report – ‘Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: Recommendations For Businesses and Policymakers’ – urging businesses to adopt best practices to protect the privacy of American consumers and contains important recommendations regarding data brokers and give them greater control over the collection and use of their personal data. One recommendation in the FTC report, available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2012/03/120326privacyreport.pdf, is that Congress consider enacting data broker legislation. (more…)

In a developing story that shows why Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) should follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when providing background checks, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently warned marketers of six background check mobile applications (“apps”) that they may be violating the FCRA, a federal law enforced by the FTC that regulates CRAs. The FTC sent letters to three background check app marketers warning that they must comply with the FCRA if the background check reports they provide are being used for employment, housing, and credit purposes, according to an updated FTC press release at: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/02/mobileapps.shtm. (more…)