Senators have privacy issues with background screening firm

Mon Sep 19 16:11:15 PDT 2011

Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) voiced
concern over the practices of an employment screening firm that culls
data about job applicants from social media and the Web on Monday,
arguing the practice could invade consumers' privacy and violate the law.

?According to sample background reports published in the media,
information is collected from applicants? profiles on social
networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, personal websites, and
other online information sources that Social Intelligence Corporation
matches to applicants," the Senators wrote.

"We are concerned that there are numerous scenarios under which a job
applicant could be unfairly harmed by the information your company
provides to an employer. We are also concerned that your company?s
business practices may in some cases violate the law.?

Social Intelligence Corp. is a background screening service that
stores data on consumers' Web and social media footprints for up to
seven years to give employers information about potential hires.

The firm says it looks for publicly posted content that is racially
insensitive, sexually explicit, or demonstrates clearly illegal
activity. Flagrant displays of weaponry are also flagged. Content
limited only to users' friends is not included in the searches.

The Senators request answers to a list of questions such as whether
applicants have the right to correct mistakes on their record or how
the firm differentiates between individuals with common names.

They question whether the firm attempts to access restricted data on
Facebook by friending them or joining a network. The letter also
suggests that Social Intelligence's practice of taking screenshots of
social media profiles and pictures may violate the sites' terms of
service.

"More troubling than the apparent disregard of these websites? terms
of service are what appear to be significant violations of users?
intellectual property rights to control the use of the content that
your company collects and sells," the letter states, noting that
pictures taken from sites like Flickr and Picasa are often licensed by
the owner for a narrow set of uses.

Update: "We welcome the opportunity to clear-up any concerns Senators
Blumenthal and Franken may have about our business," said a Social
Intelligence spokesman via email.
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