Verified Credentials Privacy Policy
Verified Credentials, LLC (“Verified Credentials”) is a consumer reporting agency governed by the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and other state and federal laws. Verified Credentials is committed to protecting your privacy. PLEASE READ THIS PRIVACY POLICY CAREFULLY. BY USING OUR SITE AND THE RELATED SERVICES PROVIDED BY VERIFIED CREDENTIALS, YOU SIGNIFY YOUR AGREEMENT TO THIS POLICY.
This Privacy Policy covers 1) Verified Credentials’ web site; and 2) Verified Credentials’ practices for handling personal information provided to Verified Credentials by those using Verified Credentials’ publicly available web site. It also describes your choices regarding use, access and correction of your personal information. Verified Credentials will only collect, store, share, secure and use personal information in compliance with applicable law, e.g. the FCRA.
Information Collection
When you browse Verified Credentials’ publicly accessible web site, you do so anonymously. Your personal information is collected only if you choose to provide it. That information may include: (a) contact and identifying information (e.g., name, address, e-mail address, phone and fax numbers, employer(s), job title) you provide when requesting information about, or registering for, Verified Credentials’ products or services; (b) resumé information and employment application data related to Verified Credentials’ job openings; and (c) any other information you provide in an online form or through an e-mail.
Verified Credentials’ clients, their employees and job applicants have access to web pages and online services not available to the general public. Access requires a login code and password. Use of those web pages, and the information downloadable to and from those pages, is subject to a written agreement between Verified Credentials and its clients. On restricted-access pages, Verified Credentials collects only information voluntarily provided.
If you use this web site to open a background screening account with Verified Credentials, we collect the information you provide on our account application, including contact information and financial information (such as credit card number or billing information). We use that information internally for account establishment, billing, fulfillment of orders and customer service.
User Data Supplementation
We may receive information about you from other sources, including publicly available databases or third parties from whom we have purchased data, and combine this data with information we already have about you. This helps us to update, expand and analyze our records, identify new customers, and provide products and services that may be of interest to you. If you provide us personal information about others, or if others give us your information, we will only use that information for the specific reason for which it was provided to us.
Examples of the types of personal information that may be obtained from public sources or purchased from third parties and combined with information we already have about you, may include:
– Address information about you from third party sources, such as the U.S. Postal Service, to verify your address so we can properly ship your order to you and to prevent fraud.
– Purchased marketing data about our customers from third parties that is combined with information we already have about you, to create more tailored advertising and products.
How We Use Your Personal Information
When you use Verified Credentials’ publicly accessible web site, we inform you at the point of collection, of the purpose for any personal information we collect. We use that personal information only as specified unless you consent to a different use. For example, if you submit an account application, we use your information to set up and maintain your account. We may also use the personal information to answer your questions, to respond to your inquiries into Verified Credentials’ job postings, and to provide any newsletters or other information you request.
If you have provided your personal information over this web site in connection with a background check ordered by another person or organization, Verified Credentials may use your personal information to perform your background check for that other party. Verified Credentials will not use your information to conduct a background check and create a report unless a Verified Credentials client completes a Master Certification Agreement required by the FCRA and any other applicable law. In this certification, the client represents that it has a legally permissible purpose for ordering the background check and has obtained your informed consent, if required by law, to conduct the background screen.
If you ask Verified Credentials to perform a background check on you, Verified Credentials will share that background check only with the persons or organizations with whom you ask us to share it.
Information Sharing and Disclosure
Verified Credentials does not sell or rent personal information to third parties. Verified Credentials will not disclose your personal information to a third party without your permission, except as described in this Privacy Policy.
Verified Credentials may disclose personal information as necessary or appropriate in connection with any of the purposes described above in “How We Use Your Personal Information”.
When Verified Credentials conducts a background check on you, we may disclose information that you submit through this web site to the party requesting the background check. We may also disclose your information to a third-party representative or subcontractor assisting us in the background screening investigation. These third parties include service providers providing technical assistance for our web site, court researchers and other service vendors. Verified Credentials transfers to these third parties only the personal information each needs to deliver the requested product or service. Verified Credentials prohibits these third parties from using that information for any other purpose and requires them to maintain commercially reasonable measures to safeguard your privacy.
In certain situations, we may be required to disclose personal data in response to lawful requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements.
Verified Credentials also may in good faith disclose personal information and other information available to it for any of the following purposes: (i)to investigate, prevent or take action on actual or suspected illegal activities or fraud, potential threats to the physical safety of any person, or violations of Verified Credentials’ terms of use; (ii) to respond to or defend against subpoenas, court orders, or other legal process; (iii) to establish or exercise Verified Credentials’ legal rights; or (iv) to otherwise comply with applicable law.
Verified Credentials may acquire other businesses, and other businesses may acquire Verified Credentials. If that occurs, the information Verified Credentials collects may be one of the assets examined or transferred as part of the transaction. You will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our Web site of any changes in uses of your personal information resulting from a change of ownership. Verified Credentials will allow another business to examine the information it collects only under a confidentiality agreement and to the extent permitted by law. Verified Credentials will not transfer the information it has collected unless the recipient agrees to provide privacy protections equal to or exceeding those established by this Privacy Policy.
Cookies and Tracking Technology
Technologies such as: cookies and similar technologies are used by Verified Credentials and our partners, affiliates, analytics or service providers. These technologies are used in analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movements around the site and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole. We may receive reports based on the use of these technologies by these companies on an individual as well as aggregated basis.
We use cookies to remember users’ settings (e.g. application preferences and authentication). Users can control the use of cookies at the individual browser level. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but your ability to use some features or areas of our site may be limited.
Log Files – As is true of most web sites, we gather certain information automatically and store it in log files. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, internet service provider (ISP), referring/exit pages, operating system, date/time stamp, and/or clickstream data.
We do not link this automatically collected data to other information we collect about you. We may combine this automatically collected log information with other information we collect about you. We do this to improve services and support we offer you.
We partner with a third party to display advertising on our website or to manage our advertising on other sites. Our third party partner may use cookies or similar technologies in order to provide you advertising based upon your browsing activities and interests. If you wish to opt out of interest-based advertising click here. Please note you will continue to receive generic ads.
Security
While Verified Credentials cannot provide a guaranty against all improper uses of personal information, it employs a sophisticated combination of online and offline security technologies, procedures and organizational measures to safeguard consumer information against loss, misuse, and unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration and destruction. We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. We employ Secure Socket Layer (SSL) data encryption when sensitive information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted over the Internet to our web site. Layered firewalls, strong password protection protocols and other security technologies help prevent unauthorized access to our systems. We regularly train our employees on our security and privacy policies. Our servers are maintained in a secure environment with strong security measures. If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can contact us at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com.
Customer Testimonials
We post customer testimonials on our web site which may contain personal information. We do obtain the customer’s consent via email prior to posting the testimonial to post their name along with their testimonial. If you wish to request we remove your testimonial you may contact us at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com.
Links
Verified Credentials’ web site may provide links to third-party web sites. Third-party web sites are outside of our control and not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you have questions about how another site uses your information, consult that site’s privacy policy.
Reviewing or Modifying Personal Information; Unsubscribe.
Upon request, Verified Credentials will provide you with information about whether we hold, or process on behalf of a third party, any of your personal information. To request this information please contact us at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com.
If you have provided personal information (such as zip code, phone, e-mail or postal address) to Verified Credentials while browsing Verified Credentials’ publicly accessible web site, you may update, correct, delete/deactivate that information by e-mailing us at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com. Clients with registered accounts may review, update and correct account information by logging into their accounts. If clients with registered accounts wish to request to have their information deleted/deactivated they may email us at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com.We will respond to your request to access within 30 days. Employees of or job applicants to a Verified Credentials client may review their Verified Credentials file in accordance with rights under the FCRA and California Civil Code Section 1786.22 by contacting Verified Credentials Customer Service Department at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com. You can review a summary of your consumer rights (including file disclosure rights) under the FCRA by accessing: “Your Summary of Rights Under the FCRA”.
We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. We will retain and use your information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
We will send you strictly service-related announcements on rare occasions when it is necessary to do so. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance, we might send you an email.
Generally, you may not opt-out of these communications, which are not promotional in nature. If you do not wish to receive them, you have the option to deactivate your account.
Newsletter Preferences
You may sign-up to receive newsletter from us. If you would like to discontinue receiving this information, you may update your email preferences by using the “Unsubscribe” link found in emails we send to you or at your member profile on our website or by contacting us at clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com.
Children Under Age 13
Verified Credentials does not offer services to children under the age of 13. This web site is not directed to children under the age of 13. Verified Credentials does not knowingly collect information about children under the age of 13.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Verified Credentials may revise this policy from time to time. Verified Credentials will post a revised policy to this site, and notify you by email (sent to the e-mail address specified in your account) or by means of a notice on this Site prior to the change becoming effective if it makes material changes to this Privacy Policy. Privacy protection will not be lessened without your consent. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy.
If you have an unresolved privacy or data use concern that we have not addressed satisfactorily, please contact our U.S.-based third party dispute resolution provider (free of charge) at https://feedback-form.truste.com/watchdog/request
If you have any questions regarding our privacy policy, please contact us at:
Verified Credentials, LLC
20890 Kenbridge Court
Lakeville, MN 55044
Attn: Compliance Department
clientservices@verifiedcredentials.com
Effective Date: 11/19/2021