HR: background screening group opposes financial sector reform

The Association claims to represent more than 700 companies around the world which provide "tenant, employment and background screening"

And what it's concerned about in the USA is the catch-all approach that the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (it's a Bill at present, not an Act but the USA system is somewhat confusing) will adopt.

The Association says "The proposed expansion of the FTC authority envisaged in the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173), would reverse the considered decisions of two earlier Congresses, granting such sweeping powers that the FTC could essentially act as an unelected governing body, presiding over industries and sectors that had nothing to do with the financial crisis. The FTC would be allowed to issue regulations addressing "unfair or deceptive" practices more easily and would be allowed to seek civil penalties for such practices."

That, as we understand it, is kind of the point of the proposed changes, although whether the FTC is the correct body to handle it is open to debate.

But there is an obvious cross-over between "background checking" and credit checking or even private investigation. For both the government and the industry, the question is where to draw that line.

It is difficult to see that the line should be drawn according to purpose (the same information being obtained for credit checking purposes being treated differently if it were obtained for background checking, for example).

The USA is a woefully leaky boat when it comes to personal information. Perhaps the answer is to deal with that situation, and improve both data protection and data security, rather than to try to handle the way information is used once it is obtained.