The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a federal law that promotes accuracy, fairness, and privacy of the data assembled by Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs), helps protect employees as consumers by providing consumer transparency and giving the consumer the ability to dispute information they believe to be inaccurate or incomplete. Verifiers must certify to CRAs that they have a “permissible purpose” for requesting verification of an employee’s personal information contained in the files of a CRA, such as an application containing consent for some type of credit, verification of employment, or qualification for social service benefits.
