Corporate Screening Services, Inc. (“CS”) is a Consumer Reporting Agency as defined by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and provides sensitive and confidential information about individuals. This information may include, but is not limited to, full name, previous names used, Social Security Number, date of birth, phone numbers, residential address, credit information, employment history, academic history, and criminal record history. We provide employment screening services only to businesses with a permissible purpose and only after they undergo a vetting process. We release information via telephone, fax, mail and electronically, only to the individual(s) or business(s) that originally requested the service. Under no circumstances will the personal information collected and maintained in our databases ever be sold or provided to an outside entity for any purpose. CS does not use our databases of applicant information to compile mailing lists for sales or any other purpose.

This Privacy Policy covers the information practices of CS and describes the principles CS follows with regard to information submitted by our clients and their applicants and employees, and to other data that we collect from third parties and other sources in connection with the services we provide. These information privacy principles have been implemented by all CS personnel regardless of their location. All data shall be collected, stored and used in compliance with applicable law, which may include the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), individual state background screening and privacy laws, the European Union Data Protection Directive and other national laws.

 

Corporate Screening Services, Inc. (“CS”) hereby confirms our strong policy to protect and maintain the privacy and personal data that we assemble and maintain on behalf of employers concerning consumers. In that regard, we certify that we comply with the “Safe Harbor” principles of the United States Department of Commerce, in relation to personal data collected in the European Union. We endorse and follow the principles and practices outlined in the seven principals of the European Commission’s Directive on Data Protection. We fulfill our obligation under the seven principals in the following manner:

1. Notice
CS collects information on individuals for the purpose of providing the information to employers for employment related decisions. The information is used by employers to make decisions on whom to hire, retain, promote or re-assign. It may also be utilized to conduct employee investigations where an employer has a suspicion of work related misconduct or wrongdoing, or an issue arises as to employee compliance with Federal, State, or local laws and regulations, or any employer policies.

This notice covers human resources data that is obtained manually by this service on behalf of employers. The data is obtained by manually contacting the appropriate sources of the data.

 

A consumer may find out more about the nature and scope of any inquiry that is made about them by contacting this service through the contact links on this web site.

2. Choice
Consumers are given a choice to opt-out of having their personal information collected by way of a disclosure form provided to them by our client (their prospective or current employer) prior to a background investigation report being procured. The consumer can opt-out by not signing the disclosure, thereby stating they do not give their consent to have their personal information collected. By consenting to the procurement of a background investigation report, and submitting information to our client, the consumer is agreeing to allow CS to disclose information about them to our client and to our sharing that information with our subcontractors.

 

Choice is further afforded by the fact that CS only collects personal information from those employers, educational institutions, or other credential granting organizations that are identified by the consumer. The collected information is then only utilized for the purpose as described above in the section on “Notice”.

3. Onward Transfer
In connection with our providing services, we may in some instances, employ other companies and individuals as our subcontractors to perform functions on our behalf. All such contractors are contractually obligated to use and maintain the confidentiality of personal information in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy. These companies may not share any such information with any third party, other than CS’s subcontractors or clients. Except as described in this Privacy Policy, or required by law, we will not use or otherwise disclose any of the personally-identifying information that is provided or that we collect from third parties or other sources.

4. Security

CS has taken and will continue to take appropriate measures to assure the security of personal data. Any personal data transmitted to or from CS web site is protected by a secure socket layer (SSL) key which encrypts the data transmitted over the Internet. Personal data on our servers is stored in a secure manner. Access to those servers and data is strictly limited to authorized personnel of CS, who have been trained to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of personal data under CS control.

  

5. Data Integrity  

CS only collects data that is strictly for the purposes listed under the section on “Notice.” The data includes information that is necessary to identify the consumer for purposes of collecting employment related information.

 

6. Access

All subjects of consumer reports have the right of access to any reports CS produces and maintains on them. You may contact CS as set out at the end of this Privacy Policy, at any time, to determine whether we hold any personal information about you and to obtain access to that information. For your protection, we will require proof of identity, including proper verification and confirmation that you are the individual who is entitled to request access, before providing information to you. If, for good reason, we are unable to provide you with access to your data or to correct data, we will let you know. Otherwise, we will mail to you if you are a U.S. resident a copy of the report about you within 7 days, as it has been provided to your current or prospective employer, at no charge (as mandated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.).

If you are an EU resident or a resident of any other country where CS is doing business, you may contact us at any time to determine whether we hold personal data about you and for purposes of reviewing your personal information. If you wish to have access to that information or to correct information that you have already received from us, please contact CS as listed below.

If the consumer wishes to have information in their report corrected, amended, or deleted CS will review that in

 

7. Enforcement

CS verifies adherence to the EU Safe Harbor Policy by means of in-house verification by the management of this company. In addition, we provide readily available and affordable independent recourse mechanisms by which each individual’s complaints and disputes are investigated and resolved by reference to the Principles and damages are awarded where the applicable law or private sector initiatives so provide.