Employment Screening: A Breakdown of the Interactions Between CCPA and FCRA


As an employment screening company, you have the responsibility under the FCRA to provide or request background check reports on behalf of your client for employment screening purposes. But does the coming into effect of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) change how you accomplish your obligations? Let’s find out.

An Overview of the CCPA

While the CCPA supposedly applies to California residents, tentatively, a substantial number of businesses have operations that touch California. For this reason, you may need to understand the CCPA tenets to enable you to comply with the provisions.

The CCPA focuses on providing California residents with several exceptions and entitlements, including:

  • Right to know the type of personal information a businesses’ collect about them
  • Particular details regarding the organization’s data collection practices
  • A resident’s ability to request access to personal information a business maintains about them or likewise apply for deletion. Where applicable, it’ll also include a provision that enables a resident to petition a firm not to sell an individual’s personal information.

Apart from business service providers, this law also affects certain third parties privy to personal information held by a business. And with the enforcement of these guidelines set to commence on July 1, 2020, savvy enterprises subject to this law are already working on their compliance strategies—even though the authorities are still putting the final touches to implement the proposed regulations.

Application of the CCPA to Businesses


As an employment screening company, you have the responsibility under the FCRA to provide or request background check reports on behalf of your client for employment screening purposes. But does the coming into effect of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) change how you accomplish your obligations? Let’s find out.

An Overview of the CCPA

While the CCPA supposedly applies to California residents, tentatively, a substantial number of businesses have operations that touch California. For this reason, you may need to understand the CCPA tenets to enable you to comply with the provisions.

The CCPA focuses on providing California residents with several exceptions and entitlements, including:

  • Right to know the type of personal information a businesses’ collect about them
  • Particular details regarding the organization’s data collection practices
  • A resident’s ability to request access to personal information a business maintains about them or likewise apply for deletion. Where applicable, it’ll also include a provision that enables a resident to petition a firm not to sell an individual’s personal information.

Apart from business service providers, this law also affects certain third parties privy to personal information held by a business. And with the enforcement of these guidelines set to commence on July 1, 2020, savvy enterprises subject to this law are already working on their compliance strategies—even though the authorities are still putting the final touches to implement the proposed regulations.

Application of the CCPA to Businesses

For businesses evaluating whether or to what extent they’re subject to this Act, several factors will enable them to assess the relevance or applicability of the CCPA to their firms, besides also help them build compliance programs.

1. CCPA covers personal information regarding California residents

Does your company collect personal information among the California residents? Notably, the CCPA extends rights exclusively to California residents. Having said that, several organizations have taken it upon themselves to provide for the CCPA rights and equally offer the same to consumers nationwide.

2. CCPA applies to business ventures, service providers, and third parties

Most of the CCPA’s obligations will typically apply to a “business.” Thus, a “for-profit entity’ conducting business in California dealing solely or jointly with collecting personal information (or else has the data collected on its behalf), aside from playing the role of determining the purpose or means by which the information gets processed.

Similarly, to qualify as a “business” under the CCPA, an enterprise must also fulfill one of the following conditions:

  • Have more than $25 million in annual gross revenue (adjusted for inflation);
  • Derives more than 50% of its annual revenue from the sale of consumer’s personal information; or
  • Solely or in partnership buy, receive for organization’s commercial intent, sell or share for trade purposes personal information of at least 50,000 consumers or households annually.

In a nutshell, the CCPA seeks to provide California residents with more transparency and control over their personal information. Basically, what the Act does is allow the residents easy access to their personal information, facilitate the deletion of their data in specified situations, and also grant them an avenue to opt-out when they decide against the sale of their personal information.

How Do the FCRA and the CCPA Interact?

Specific rules oversee how CCPA applies for an entity—whether the firm meets the above conditions, features joint ownership, or shares branding with another business that’s eligible.

More so, the CCPA may afford some companies various exceptions and exemptions. As such, the Act may not apply to dealings pegged on specific federal and California privacy legislations.

One of these instances relates to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Is the CCPA Applicable to Your Employment Screening Business?

Employment screening information initially was subject to the scope of CCPA’s coverage. But subsequent amendments (AB 1355) touching on the Act excluded all activities under the mandate of the FCRA. These authorized undertakings include employment screening checks carried out by a consumer reporting agency on behalf of an employer in line with the FCRA Provisions.

In addition, the AB 1355 amendments to the CCPA simplified the Act’s public records exemption extending the coverage to include any information obtained lawfully from federal, state, as well as local government records.

Expressly, the FCRA achieves the same objectives California’s new law seeks to accomplish. As such, the amendments to CCPA not only exempt FCRA-approved activities but also scrub any compliance responsibility for an employment screening company under the CCPA in relation to background checks.

File Finders holds Professional Background Screeners Association (PBSA) accreditation. For that reason, any information we collect or provide to your company during employment screening background checks; therefore, doesn’t violate the stipulations of the CCPA as it applies to the restrictions of “sale” of personal information.

Our vast expertise, coupled with a boots-on-the-ground employment approach, allows us to offer you industry leading wholesale screening services. For unmatched support and resources, reach out to us today!

Note: It is the recommendation of File Finders Inc., to consult an employment attorney or qualified personnel familiar with local and statewide legislation before enacting the above recommendations to ensure you are meeting all guidelines mentioned above. As we are not attorneys, we cannot provide legal advice. We cannot act as your attorney, so make sure you’re consulting with a qualified employment attorney.