Privacy Policy
Our Commitment to Privacy
Vertical Screen, Inc., and its affiliates: Truescreen, Inc., Certiphi Screening, Inc. and Business Information Group, Inc. (collectively, "we," "us" or "Company") are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the data we receive and process. This notice explains our online information practices.
Applicability of Our Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy covers the information practices of Vertical Screen, Inc. and sets forth our privacy provisions relating to information submitted by our clients and their applicants and employees. This Policy also applies to other data that we collect from third parties and other sources in connection with our screening services. All data shall be collected, stored and used in compliance with applicable law, which may include the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"); the European Union Data Protection Directive; and other national laws and state background screening and privacy laws.
By using our website, you consent to the collection and use of the information you provide according to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not address any information or data we collect through traditional means (e.g., via telephone, fax or customer information forms, etc.).
Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13.
The Information We Collect and How We Use It
We provide employment screening services only to businesses with a permissible purpose in accordance with the FCRA. We release information via telephone, fax, mail and electronically, only to the individual(s) or business(s) that originally requested the service. We do not sell or provide the personal information collected and maintained in our databases to an outside entity for any purpose. Similarly, we do not compile mailing lists consisting of subjects of our screening reports for any purpose not related to a permissible use.
We use several forms on this website and other methods to collect personally identifiable information and other information about the users of this website ("you" or "user"). The types of information we collect when you access the website may include, without limitation, the following:
- Your name and the name of your company
- Your electronic mail ("email") address
- A contact address
- Your phone and fax numbers
- Any other information that you provide in a form on the website
- The Internet Protocol address from which you accessed the website
- Contents of any queries
- What items you clicked on the applicable Web page
In addition, we may collect other information not listed above. As appropriate, we may share any such data we collect with our affiliated companies or website monitoring firms strictly for monitoring and collecting information regarding the use and traffic patterns of our websites. However, the Company is required to and does comply with all applicable laws and regulations, some of which limit the collection, storage, use and dissemination of information.
We may also use any information we collect to support our customer satisfaction initiatives, and we may disclose any or all such information to a third party that acquires all or part of our business, provided that such third party agrees to comply with the provisions of our Privacy Policy with respect to the use of the information.
Some of the information we collect via the website is gathered and maintained through the use of "cookies." A "cookie" is a small file that is saved on your computer where we maintain the "state" of your current visit to our website. We generally do not store any personal information in these cookies. Some of these cookies are created as "temporary" files that your browser should delete when the browser window is closed, while other cookies are stored for longer and indefinite periods of time ("persistent cookies").
We may also collect certain non-personal data in connection with the website. For example, we may collect information on the browser that you use to access the website, the operating system that you are running and certain information about the website you accessed immediately before you accessed our website.
We may aggregate your non-personal data with the non-personal data of our other users. We also collect and analyze general traffic patterns within our website to help maintain the flow and content of the website, and we may use some or all of this anonymous aggregated information to support our commercial activities, or for any other reason.
Our Commitment to Data Security
To prevent unauthorized access to your personally identifiable information, maintain data accuracy and ensure the correct use of such information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. We urge you to take adequate precautions to protect your personal data.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
We reserve the right to revise this Privacy Policy from time to time in our discretion. If we modify this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised Privacy Policy, which will take effect immediately upon posting, and we may attempt to notify you of such change through your email address registered with us. It is your responsibility to periodically review this Privacy Policy.
Copyright
The copyright in all material provided on this site ("Site") is held by Company or by the original creator of the material. Except as stated herein, none of the material may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Company or the copyright owner. You also may not, without Company's permission, "mirror" any material contained on this Site on any other server. Any unauthorized use of any material contained on this Site may violate copyright laws, trademark laws; the laws of privacy and publicity; and communications regulations and statutes.
Privacy Shield Provision of Privacy Policy
Company complies with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss - U.S. Privacy Shield Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information transferred from the European Union and Switzerland to the United States, respectively. Company has certified to the Department of Commerce that it adheres to the Privacy Shield Principles. If there is any conflict between the terms in this privacy policy and the Privacy Shield Principles, the Privacy Shield Principles shall govern. To learn more about the Privacy Shield program, and to view our certification, please visit https://www.privacyshield.gov/.
Company has certified that it and this Policy adhere to the Privacy Shield Principles of notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity and purpose limitation, access and enforcement, as well as the Supplemental Principles.
The certification is in the name of Vertical Screen, Inc. d/b/a Vertical Screen, Truescreen, Business Information Group and Certiphi Screening.
We comply with our obligations under the Privacy Shield Principles and the European Commission Directive on Data Protection, as follows:
Notice
Our background screening services include collection of information on individuals for employment-related purposes. Our clients provide us with your personal information in connection with our preparing a background screening report for them. Personal information gathered may include your history of employment and other credentials related to your prospective employment. In addition to the data that is submitted to us by our clients, we may collect data from third parties as needed to process academic, residential, achievement, job performance, attendance, litigation, personal history, credit reports, driving records, criminal history records and other lawful checks. Prior employers and/or references may be contacted, and the report may include information obtained through personal interviews regarding the applicant's character, general reputation, personal characteristics and/or mode of living. We may provide all such information to our client (your current or prospective employer) in one or more reports. We will use such information only for the purposes of performing employment screening and credential verification services, including verification of the accuracy of the personal information and check of your references.
We are committed to subjecting all personal data received from the EU and Switzerland to the Privacy Shield Principles. In certain instances, we may be required to disclose personal information in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
Before the information we collect is provided to our clients, our clients must certify to us:
- That they will provide disclosure to their applicants that a background investigation will be performed and that personal data may be gathered for the purpose of completing the background screening report.
- That they will receive consent from an applicant before a Background Investigation Report is requested.
- That they will not resell the background report to a third party.
Choice (Opt-Out of Sensitive Information)
The information collected is only utilized for the purpose described above in the section on "Notice." In the event a consumer wishes to opt-out of any use of information collected by us, a consumer can notify us through the contact information on this website that permission or any use of the data is withdrawn. That does not mean that if a consumer opts-out that the data is erased or deleted. Various laws require that this service maintain the data on file for a consumer for a period of time for the protection of the consumer as a result of applicable statute of limitations required under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. However, in the event of an opt-out, the data will not be forwarded or utilized by us for any purpose.
If you are a U.S. resident and you do not wish to have your personal data made available to our client (your current or prospective employer), please do not authorize our client to procure a screening report from us.
If you are an E.U. or Switzerland resident, you may choose not to submit personal information to us through this website or through forms provided by our client for that purpose. By filling out and submitting the Authorization form, you expressly agree to provide personally-identifying information, and you consent to our use of that information in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Onward Transfer
The information obtained by this Site is forwarded only to an entity that has been authorized by you to receive the data or an agent of our client (client is also known as the "End-user"), operating on behalf of the End-user. The information is only provided to the employer for purpose described in the section under "Notice." 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 you provide or that we collect from third parties or other sources.
Company reserves the right to employ other companies and individuals as our subcontractors or vendors to perform functions on our behalf. All such contractors are contractually obligated to use and maintain the confidentiality of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Company shall be liable in accordance with all applicable laws if found to have willfully violated consumer's rights in the onward transfer of personal data to third parties.
Security
We take all reasonable procedures to protect personal and identifiable information from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We have taken and will continue to take appropriate measures to assure the security of sensitive personal data. Any personal data transmitted to or from our web site is protected by a secure socket layer (SSL) key which encrypts the data transmitted over the Internet. Password protection protocols are used on all computers. Access to servers containing private information and data is strictly limited to only our authorized personnel who have been trained to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of personal data under our control. We also do everything in our power to protect user information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. The servers that are used to store sensitive personal information are kept in a secure, state-of-the-art environment, with security measures.
Data Integrity and Purpose Limitation
Consistent with the Principles, personal information is limited to the information that is relevant for the purposes of processing. As previously mentioned, the information collected is only utilized for the purpose described above in the section on "Notice." Personal information is not processed in a way that is incompatible with the purpose for which it has been collected or subsequently authorized by the consumer. To the extent necessary and possible, reasonable steps are taken to ensure that data and information is reliable for its intended use, accurate, complete, and current.
Access
We provide you with access to all data collected about you in order to give you the reasonable opportunity to confirm what personal data we possesses about you, and to correct, amend or delete information that is inaccurate or incomplete. Disclosure is provided under the terms of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under all circumstances, you are entitled to a copy of your report under the terms of the FCRA. Company reserves the right to engage in reasonable efforts to confirm the identity of anyone requesting data, so that we only provide data to the consumer that is the subject of the data. 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 we collected information from you, we will mail to you, if you are a U.S. resident, a copy of the report about you within 5 days, as it has been provided to your current or prospective employer, at no charge.
Although we make every effort to ensure that the data we collect and store about you is as accurate as possible, we cannot guarantee that third parties are accurate in information that is transmitted and therefore we are not responsible for the data. We therefore are not responsible for the accuracy of data about you that may be supplied by any other third-party sources of information or our clients.
Recourse, Enforcement and Liability
This service verifies adherence to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework and the Swiss - U.S. Privacy Shield Framework by means of in-house verification by the management of this company. Company is subject to the investigatory and enforcement powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
In addition, we provide a 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 awarded where the applicable law or private sector initiatives so provide.
Company is a member of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution/American Arbitration Association's EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Dispute Resolution Program. This is an alternative dispute resolution provider based in the United States. There is a possibility, under certain conditions, for you to invoke binding arbitration.
Further information about this program is available here. You can contact the American Arbitration Association by calling Jason Cabrera, International Liaison, at (212) 484-3207 or Cabreraj@adr.org.
How to Contact Us
Should you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or any other matter pertaining to our privacy practices, please write, call or send us an email to the following address:
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Address:
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Vertical Screen, Inc. |
Phone: |
1-800-260-1680 |