Legal/Privacy Policy

Our commitment to privacy

Vertical Screen, Inc. ("we," "us" or "Company") is committed to safeguarding the privacy of the data we receive and process. This notice explains our online information practices.

Applicability of our Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy covers the information practices of Vertical Screen, Inc. and sets forth our privacy provisions relating to information submitted by our clients and their applicants and employees. This Policy also applies to other data that we collect from third parties and other sources in connection with our screening services. All data shall be collected, stored and used in compliance with applicable law, which may include the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), the European Union Data Protection Directive, and other national laws and state background screening and privacy laws.

By using our Web site, you consent to the collection and use of the information you provide according to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy does not address any information or data we collect through traditional means (e.g., via telephone, fax or customer information forms, etc.).

Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13.

The information we collect and how we use it

We provide employment screening services only to businesses with a permissible purpose in accordance with the FCRA. We release information via telephone, fax, mail and electronically, only to the individual(s) or business(s) that originally requested the service. We do not sell or provide the personal information collected and maintained in our databases to an outside entity for any purpose. Similarly, we do not compile mailing lists consisting of subjects of our screening reports for any purpose not related to a permissible use.

We use several forms on this Web site and other methods to collect personally identifiable information and other information about the users of this Web site ("you" or "user"). The types of information we collect when you access the Web site may include, without limitation, the following:

1. Your name and the name of your company
2. Your electronic mail ("e-mail") address
3. A contact address
4. Your phone and fax numbers
5. Any other information that you may provide in a form on the Web site
6. The Internet Protocol address from which you accessed the Web site
7. Contents of any queries
8. What items you clicked on the applicable Web page

In addition, we may collect other information not listed above. As appropriate, we may share any such data we collect with our affiliates, partners and others. However, the Company is required to and does comply with all applicable laws and regulations, some of which limit the collection, storage, use and dissemination of information.

We may also use any information we collect to support our customer satisfaction initiatives, and we may disclose any or all such information to a third party that acquires all or part of our business, provided that such third party agrees to comply with the provisions of our Privacy Policy with respect to the use of the information.

Some of the information we collect via the Web site is gathered and maintained through the use of "cookies." A "cookie" is a small file that is saved on your computer where we maintain the "state" of your current visit to our Web site. We generally do not store any personal information in these cookies. Some of these cookies are created as "temporary" files that your browser should delete when the browser window is closed, while other cookies are stored for longer and indefinite periods of time ("persistent cookies").

We may also collect certain non-personal data in connection with the Web site. For example, we may collect information on the browser that you use to access the Web site, the operating system that you are running, and certain information about the Web site you accessed immediately before you accessed our Web site.

We may aggregate your non-personal data with the non-personal data of our other users. We also collect and analyze general traffic patterns within our Web site to help maintain the flow and content of the Web site, and we may use some or all of this anonymous aggregated information to support our commercial activities, or for any other reason.

Our Commitment to Data Security

To prevent unauthorized access to your personally identifiable information, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of such information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect. We urge you to take adequate precautions to protect your personal data.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to revise this Privacy Policy from time to time in our discretion. If we modify this Privacy Policy, we will post the revised Privacy Policy, which will take effect immediately upon posting, and we may attempt to notify you of such change through your e-mail addresses registered with us. It is your responsibility to periodically review this Privacy Policy.

Copyright

The copyright in all material provided on this site ("Site") is held by Vertical Screen, Inc. or by the original creator of the material. Except as stated herein, none of the material may be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Vertical Screen, Inc. or the copyright owner. You also may not, without Vertical Screen, Inc.'s permission, "mirror" any material contained on this Site on any other server. Any unauthorized use of any material contained on this Site may violate copyright laws, trademark laws, the laws of privacy and publicity, and communications regulations and statutes.

Safe Harbor Provision of Privacy Policy

Vertical Screen, Inc. complies with the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework and the U.S.-Swiss Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use, and retention of personal information from European Union member countries and Switzerland. Vertical Screen, Inc. has certified that it adheres to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access, and enforcement. To learn more about the Safe Harbor program, and to view Vertical Screen, Inc.’s certification, please visit http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/

The certification is in the name of Vertical Screen, Inc. d/b/a Vertical Screen, Truescreen, Business Information Group and Certiphi Screening.

We comply with our obligations under the European Commission Directive on Data Protection, as follows:

Notice

Our background screening services includes collection of information on individuals for employment-related purposes. Our clients provide us with your personal information in connection with our preparing a background screening report for them. Personal information gathered may include your history of employment and other credentials related to your prospective employment. In addition to the data that is submitted to us by our clients, we may collect data from third parties as needed to process academic, residential, achievement, job performance, attendance, litigation, personal history, credit reports, driving records, criminal history records and other lawful checks. Prior employers and/or references may be contacted, and the report may include information obtained through personal interviews regarding the applicant’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics and/or mode of living. We may provide all such information to our client (your current or prospective employer) in one or more reports. We will use such information only for the purposes of performing employment screening and credential verification services, including verification of the accuracy of the personal information and check of your references.

Before the information we collect is provide to our clients, our clients must certify to us:

• That they will provide disclosure to their applicants that a background investigation will be performed and that personal data may be gathered for the purpose of completing the background screening report.
• Our clients further certify to us that they will receive consent from an applicant before a Background Investigation Report is requested.
• Our clients also certify that they will not resell the background report to a third party.

Choice (opt-out of sensitive information)

The information collected is only utilized for the purpose described above in the section on “Notice.” In the event a consumer wishes to opt-out of any use of information collected by us, a consumer can notify us through the contact information on this web site that permission or any use of the data is withdrawn. That does not mean that if a consumer opts-out that the data is erased or deleted. Various laws require that this service maintain the data on file for a consumer for a period of time for the protection of the consumer as a result of applicable statute of limitations required under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. However, in the event of an opt-out, the data will not be forwarded or utilized by us for any purpose.

If you are a United States resident and you do not wish to have your personal data made available to our client (your current or prospective employer), please do not authorize our client to procure a screening report from us.

If you are a European Union resident, you may choose not to submit personal information to us through this web site or through forms provided by our client for that purpose. By filling out and submitting the Release form, you expressly agree to provide personally-identifying information, and you consent to our use of that information in accordance with our privacy policy.

Onward Transfer

The information obtained by this site is forwarded only to an entity that has been authorized by you to receive the data or an agent of our client (client is also known as the “End-user”), operating on behalf of the End-user. The information is only provided to the employer for purpose described in the section under “Notice.” Except as described in this Privacy Policy, or required by law, we will not use or otherwise disclose any of the personally-identifying information that you provide or that we collect from third parties or other sources.

Vertical Screen, Inc., Inc. reserves the right to employ other companies and individuals as our subcontractors or vendors to perform functions on our behalf. All such contractors are contractually obligated to use and maintain the confidentiality of personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Access

We provide access to you on all data collected about you in order to give you the reasonable opportunity to confirm what personal data that we possesses about you, and to correct, amend or delete information that is inaccurate or incomplete. Disclosure is provided under the terms of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under all circumstances, you are entitled to a copy of your report under the terms of the FCRA. Vertical Screen, Inc. reserves the right to engage in reasonable efforts to confirm the identity of anyone requesting data, so that we only provide data to the consumer that is the subject of the data. For your protection, we will require proof of identity, including proper verification and confirmation that you are the individual who is entitled to request access, before providing information to you. If we collected information from you, we will mail to you, if you are a U.S. resident, a copy of the report about you within 5 days, as it has been provided to your current or prospective employer, at no charge.

Although we make every effort to ensure that the data we collect and store about you is as accurate as possible, we cannot guarantee that third parties are accurate in information that is transmitted and therefore we are not responsible for the data. We therefore are not responsible for the accuracy of data about you that may be supplied by any other third-party sources of information or our clients.

Security/Data Integrity

We take all reasonable procedures to protect personal and identifiable information from loss, misuse and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We have taken and will continue to take appropriate measures to assure the security of sensitive personal data. Any personal data transmitted to or from our web site is protected by a secure socket layer (SSL) key which encrypts the data transmitted over the Internet. Password protection protocols are used on all computers. Access to servers containing private information and data is strictly limited to only our authorized personnel who have been trained to protect against loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration or destruction of personal data under our control. We also do everything in our power to protect user information off-line. All of our users' information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. The servers that are used to store sensitive personal information are kept in a secure, state-of-the-art environment, with security measures.

Enforcement

This service verifies adherence to the EU Safe Harbor Policy by means of in-house verification by the management of this company. In addition, we provide a readily available and affordable independent recourse mechanisms by which each individual's complaints and disputes are investigated and resolved by reference to the Principles and damages awarded where the applicable law or private sector initiatives so provide.

Vertical Screen, Inc. is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Safe Harbor Dispute Resolution Program. Further information about this program is available at http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=26222.

How to contact us

Should you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or any other matter pertaining to our privacy practices, please write, call or send us an e-mail to the following address: