FCRA

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With the rise in remote work, not to mention better technology, many employers have begun using apps and other services to monitor employees’ activities to track, assess, and evaluate workers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently issued a Circular stating that employers’ use of the reports generated by those apps and services may be subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Action (FCRA) just like a traditional employee background check.

The FCRA regulates the use of consumer reports for employment and other purposes. A criminal background check of a potential employee that is obtained from a third party is a typical consumer report. To be clear, the FCRA does not prohibit the use of such reports, but rather triggers a series of protections for the employee. And it applies both during the hiring phase and while the employee is working for the employer.Continue Reading Whatcha Watching? The CFPB’s Recent Guidance on Employer Monitoring

Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued an advisory opinion to ensure that companies that use and share credit and background reports have a “permissible purpose” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). The credit, criminal, job, and rental records of individuals are a few items consumer reporting agencies gather, compile, and assess. This information is then packaged into a report and used across various industries by creditors, insurers, landlords, employers, and others to make eligibility and other decisions about consumers. This collection, assembly, evaluation, dissemination, and use of vast quantities of often highly sensitive personal and financial information contained within consumer reports pose significant risks to consumer privacy. Thus, to combat these risks and better safeguard individuals’ personal data, the CFPB’s new advisory opinion makes clear that users of credit reports also have express obligations to protect this sensitive data. For these reasons, entities must have a “permissible purpose” when obtaining such reports.
Continue Reading The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Issues an Advisory Opinion Strengthening Consumer Privacy

Theft or accidental loss of a laptop, thumb drive or other device is “[t]he single most common way that protected health information is compromised.” And while violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s Privacy and Security Rules can result in million-dollar fines, HIPAA does not provide for a private right of action. So when an employee of Alere Home Monitoring Inc. had a company laptop containing patients’ medical information stolen out of her car in 2012, plaintiffs filed…
Continue Reading Healthcare Home Monitoring Company Avoids FCRA Liability Over Stolen Laptop