Background screening company Checkr last year boasted processing more than 1 million background checks each month for more than 10,000 clients. It’s doing so using artificial intelligence (AI) to increase speed and accuracy. The company also has seen a rise in the number of lawsuits it faces – 40 to be exact – for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In December, Checkr settled a class action suit alleging that it illegally included information about low-level offences for more than 96,000 people, according to federal court records. Other individuals claim that the company included erroneous criminal convictions or expunged records, leading to lost job opportunities. Jeremy Gillula, tech projects director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said that, while AI is, no doubt, capable of improving screening accuracy and putting Americans to work faster, it comes with an unpredictability and should only be used as a first layer of screening.
