This bill would define a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency and consumer file for purposes of California law and would authorize a consumer to place a freeze on his or her consumer file that is compiled and maintained by a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency. The bill would also make conforming changes.

Existing state and federal law define and regulate consumer credit reports. Existing federal law regulates consumer file information that is compiled and maintained by a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency, which is defined as a consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis relating to medical records or payments, residential or tenant history, check writing history, employment history, or insurance claims. Existing state law permits a consumer to place and to remove a security on his or her credit report by following a specified procedure.

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On May 4, 2012 the provision of the new CORI law will take effect. Criminal Offender Record Information, or CORI, includes records and data compiled by a Massachusetts criminal justice agency about an individual’s history related to the nature or disposition of a criminal charge, arrest, a pre-trial proceeding, other judicial proceedings, sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation, or release.

The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS) is the Massachusetts agency statutorily designated to oversee the authorized release of CORI to the non-criminal justice community and provide a public safety information system and network to support data collection, information sharing, and interoperability for the Commonwealth's criminal justice and law enforcement community. The DCJIS is working to roll out a new secure, web-based service called “iCORI”, which will replace the existing CORI system.

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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued an updated Enforcement Guidance on employer use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (Title VII). The Commission today voted 4-1 to approve the guidance document. The Commission also issued a Question-and-Answer (Q&A) document about the guidance. The Enforcement Guidance and Q&A document will be available on the EEOC’s website at www.eeoc.gov.

“When the Commission met publicly to discuss this subject in July, 2011, I said that I hoped the meeting would help to inform the Commission’s consideration of revisions to existing EEOC guidance. We had excellent testimony from two public meetings and hundreds of written comments submitted by a diverse group of commenters to inform our deliberations concerning the new guidance,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien. Chair Berrien added, “The new guidance clarifies and updates the EEOC’s longstanding policy concerning the use of arrest and conviction records in employment, which will assist job seekers, employees, employers, and many other agency stakeholders.”

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) is changing the way Social Security Numbers (SSNs) are issued. This change is referred to as "randomization." The SSA is developing this new method to help protect the integrity of the SSN. SSN Randomization will also extend the longevity of the nine-digit SSN nationwide.

There are approximately 420 million numbers available for assignment. However, the current SSN assignment process limits the number of SSNs that are available for issuance to individuals by each state. Changing the assignment methodology will extend the longevity of the nine digit SSN in all states.

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FBI agents arrested former University adjunct instructor and professional speaker Bill Hillar at his home in Millersville, Md., Tuesday following the completion of a fraud investigation involving his fabricated experiences as an American war hero, doctoral degree holder and father of a kidnapped daughter.

According to the FBI's affidavit, the 66-year-old instructor had been teaching, leading workshops, giving speeches and conducting training for almost 40 public and private-sector clients across the county "for at least the past 10 years under fraudulent pretenses."

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For example, during a May 20, 2010 webinar, Reid Bowman, Esq., general counsel for ELT, commented, “[With the current infusion of dollars into the EEOC budget], the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is more energized with investigations and investigators with a renewed focus on systemic issues such as increased EEOC scrutiny on company background screening processes, for example – arrest and conviction records and credit cards – since they may have an adverse impact on certain population groups.”

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Currently, the state requires such checks for nursing home and assisted living employees who care directly for residents, but not for staff such as custodians, maintenance and food service workers.

Bernie Vonderheide, founder of Kentuckians For Nursing Home Reform, said it doesn't make sense to conduct criminal background checks only on direct-care workers.

"All employees in an average nursing facility have easy access to every patient," he said.

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While we would like to believe that schools are always a safe haven for children, our CACs all too frequently receive cases in which the teacher, counselor, janitor, school bus driver, or coach has abused a child under his/her care. It isn't shocking that sexual predators seek to work in schools as a way to have access to potential victims. What is shocking is that schools do not do their due diligence when hiring.

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What is Checked in a Background Check

Most prospective employers are keen to have a background check of candidates and for this reason they cannot be labeled as being distrustful. The fact is that more than 40 percent of resumes received by employers contain distorted or false information. The employers are obviously eager to appoint candidate who really has the credentials he/she claims in the resume.

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The new law prohibits employers from asking questions on an “initial written application form” about an applicant’s “criminal offender record information,” which includes information about criminal charges, arrests, and incarceration. This provision amends a portion of the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Law, M.G.L. Chapter 151B, §4 (9), which bars employers from asking questions of job applicants about arrests that do not result in convictions and convictions for certain misdemeanors, but allows questions about felony convictions and about misdemeanor convictions not protected from disclosure. By using the term “initial written application,” the new law may allow employers to continue to question applicants about felony and currently unprotected misdemeanor convictions in subsequent parts of the application process such as in-person interviews, but the intent of the amendment is not clear. The new law may also be read to require employers to obtain criminal offender record information only from the newly created Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, which is a department in the executive office that largely replaces the Criminal History Systems Board (CHSB). The law does not address criminal history inquiries conducted by third parties on behalf of a current or prospective employer. Until these ambiguities in the CORI reform law are resolved, employers are advised to exercise caution in asking job applicants about any felony or misdemeanor convictions during the application process, to seek such information from the new Department, and to avoid asking for such information in any event on an “initial written application form.”

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It often happens when victims are too young to do anything about it, so it’s a crime that can go undetected for years.

A parent or other relative uses a child’s personal information, including Social Security number, to get a credit card, loan or other account with a clean credit record. That’s identity fraud in Georgia.

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