On May 9, 2011 the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded it’s investigation of Social Intelligence Corporation, a company aggregating social media information on consumers for use in background screening. The FTC concluded that the information gathered from social networking sites is public information and that Social Intelligence Corporation is a consumer reporting agency and, as such, must comply with the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This closing letter by the FTC opens the door for FCRA compliant social media searches in the background screening process.
