PRIVACY POLICY

ackground Experts, Inc. has created this privacy policy in order to describe how we collect, use, maintain, share and protect your personal information when you use the Background Experts Inc. screening platform, public website, and any content, features, services or other offerings Background Experts Inc. provides in connection with its services. This privacy policy applies solely to information collected when you visit our website, except where otherwise stated.

This policy will describe the following:

  • What information we collect;
  • How information is used;
  • With whom it is shared;
  • How information can be corrected;
  • How it is secured; and
  • Who to contact with concerns or questions about our privacy practices.

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INFORMATION COLLECTION ON OUR WEBSITE

The information collected about you depends on how you are using our website or services. Background Experts Inc. does not collect, process, or transfer personal information for any purpose other than the legal purpose for which it was originally intended.

​WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION IS COLLECTED FROM YOU?

Our public website – www.BackgroundExperts.com

When you fill out a web-form to sign up to download a resource, or inquire about a product, we may ask you to provide certain personal information, including your:

  • Name
  • Email address
  • Job title & the organization you work for
  • Telephone number

By completing the form and ticking the relevant boxes you are providing your consent for Background Experts Inc. to process this personal data, and this is the legal basis we are relying on to do so.

Personally identifying information collected through our Site may be used to:

  • Respond to your inquiries, process requests, or otherwise correspond with you regarding employment, supplier affiliations, programs or services;
  • Enroll you if you signed up to receive Background Experts Inc. updates, free subscriptions or blog postings;
  • Conduct pre-employment background checks, commercial background checks, and tenant screening services as requested by customers of background check reports such as employers, investors, and landlords;
  • Provide you with marketing information about Background Experts Inc. services and products;
  • Process billing, invoice and payment functions when you request Pinkerton services; and
  • Analyze and improve Background Experts Inc. services.

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COOKIES

​Cookies are typically used to keep track of settings users have selected. Cookies are small pieces of data stores on a site visitor’s browser. Background Experts Inc. uses cookies for many important reasons, such as: to provide a great experience for our visitors and customers, to identify registered members, to monitor and analyze the performance, operation, and effectiveness of our platform, and to ensure our platform is secure and safe to use. Cookies used by the Site do not contain your personally identifying information. Background Experts Inc. may use cookies to route users through the Site, customize users’ experiences on the Site, to help us send you information about our services, and to improve the Site. When you access the Site, certain non-PII is automatically logged. This information may include your operating system, screen settings, Web browser software, and referring website, if any. It is used for system improvement and administration, security, statistical analysis purposes, and other internal business purposes. The Site may use service providers for analytics purposes. These providers collect information about you anonymously and report website trends without identifying individual visitors. These service providers use their own cookies to track visitor interactions. Website owners can view a variety of reports containing aggregate information about how visitors interact with their website so they can improve their website. Background Experts Inc. does not control third-party cookies and their use may be governed by the privacy policies of the service providers employing these cookies.

Most browsers are set to accept cookies but users can change the setting to block cookies or otherwise choose how cookies are handled. Although disabling cookies will not interfere with your ability to access the Site, users will need to accept cookies to use certain services on the Site.

​You can manage website cookies in your browser settings, and you always have the choice to change these settings by accepting, rejecting, or deleting cookies. If you choose to change your settings, you may find that certain functions and features of our Site will not work as intended. All browser settings are slightly different, so to manage cookies, you should refer to the relevant settings within your browser.

Mozilla Firefox®
Microsoft® Internet Explorer
Google Chrome™
Safari®

THIRD-PARTY LINKS AND WEBSITES

​This policy applies to Background Experts Inc.’s Website. However, you are able to access third-party sites through our Site by, for example, clicking on hyperlinks to those third-party sites from within our Site. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of any third-party sites, and if you visit those websites, we encourage you to review their respective privacy policies. Third party links on our Site are provided for your convenience and to provide further information or serve as a resource. They do not signify that we endorse the website(s). Background Experts Inc. exercises no control whatsoever over such other websites and web-based resources and is not responsible or liable for the availability thereof or the content, advertising, products or other materials thereon. Background Experts Inc. shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss incurred or suffered by any user in connection therewith. Your access and use of linked websites, including information, material, products and services therein, is solely at your own risk.

Background Experts Inc. also may offer via the Website third party services, such as social media login, social media sharing and social media commenting. Any information which is collected by Pinkerton when you access a third party service is processed under this privacy policy. Information collected by third party service providers themselves will be governed by their own privacy policy.

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OUR PRIVATE CLIENT/APPLICANT SERVICE POLICY

​Log Files:
The private Background Experts Inc. client portal is secured and only available to authorized client users. Background Experts Inc. logs information about a user’s IP address, browser type and the current URL, and logs usage throughout the site for security purposes. These log files are stored in a secure location and used in our internal analysis of user logs within our system.

Personal Information Collected for the Purpose of Employment Screening and/or Business Due Diligence
You may be asked for your personal information by a potential employer or business partner in order to facilitate background screening for the purpose of employment or due diligence. This personal information may be relayed or directly input by yourself to Background Experts Inc. for collection as part of contracted services.

The personal information we collect might include, but is not limited to the following:

  • Title
  • Name (First and Surname)
  • Mothers maiden name
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Previous Names
  • Marital status
  • Job title
  • Current address
  • Previous addresses
  • Social Security Number/National Identification Identifiers
  • Criminal record information
  • Employment history
  • Education information
  • Passport
  • Driver’s license
  • Residency documents
  • Employment references
  • Educational references
  • Personal/Professional reference
  • Employer address

​All personal information collected is relevant and necessary for Background Experts Inc. to perform our obligations thereon.

Any personal data categorized as ‘special data’ under the GDPR will require the data controller (typically an employer) to either have explicit consent from the individual with notice that processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment or business due diligence.

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HOW IS YOUR INFORMATION USED?

​We will use the information you give us to:

  • To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between our clients and us and to provide you with the information, products and services that are requested from us.
  • For the purposes for which you provided it;
  • To create your account and enable you to use the Services;
  • To verify your identity;
  • To provide information about the features and functionality of the Services;
  • For customer support and to respond to your inquiries;
  • To respond to and fulfill your requests;
  • To improve the Services;
  • For internal record-keeping purposes and for legal purposes;
  • To address fraud or safety concerns, or to investigate complaints or suspected fraud or wrongdoing; and
  • To resolve disputes, to protect ourselves and other users, and to enforce any legal terms that govern your use of the Services.

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CHOICE, OPT-OUT AND HOW WE RESPOND TO DO NOT TRACK SIGNALS

​As a user of our Website, you make the decision whether to proceed with activities that request PII, such as requesting follow-up contact regarding our services and products, applying for employment, receipt of email communications from us, or receipt of our newsletter(s), blog or other communications. Note, however, that if you do not provide the requested information, you may not be able to complete certain transactions or receive information from us. If, after subscribing to receive emails or other electronic communications from Background Experts Inc. you no longer wish to continue receiving such from us, you will be provided with instructions in our communications on how to opt-out of such communications, including by unsubscribing. In addition, you can also contact us through the Point of Contact information provided in this policy.

Background Experts does not track its customers over time and across third party websites to provide targeted advertising and therefore does not respond to Do Not Track (DNT) signals. However, some third party sites do keep track of your browsing activities when they serve you content, which enables them to tailor what they present to you. To learn more about the choices you have regarding online tracking, please visit these sites:

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INFORMATION SHARING AND DISCLOSURE

​Background Experts Inc. may disclose information we collect through this Site:

  • To Background Experts Inc. parent, subsidiaries and affiliates;
  • To complete a transaction that you request through our Site;
  • To complete a transaction requested by a third party for background screening purposes;
  • To government agencies or Background Experts Inc. suppliers or vendors in order to conduct background investigations as requested by your employer or landlord;
  • When required by law, subpoena or other legal process, when pertinent to judicial or governmental investigations or proceedings;
  • When necessary to investigate, take action or prevent suspected or actual illegal activities, fraud, or potential threats to safety or personal physical safety; and,
  • If our company or our assets are acquired or purchased by another company, that company will assume responsibility for the personal information collected by us through our Website, and it will assume the rights and obligations regarding the information collected through our Website, as described in this privacy policy.

Background Experts Inc. does not sell or market to the personal information of job applicants, employees or data report subjects.
We review our retention periods for personal information on a regular basis. We are legally required to hold some types of information to fulfil our statutory obligations. We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant activity, but not longer, or as long as is set out in any relevant contract held with us.

We will retain the personal information we process on behalf of our Clients for as long as required by law and as long as required to provide services to our Clients. Background Experts Inc. will retain this personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. While Background Experts Inc. has implemented technical, physical and administrative security measures to help protect against the loss, theft, misuse and unauthorized access of your information that we collect from you on behalf of our Clients, we cannot guarantee that our Clients will in like manner follow the terms set forth within this privacy policy and can therefore not be held liable for a Client’s actions.

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WHO HAS ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.

​Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf:
We may pass your information to our third-party service providers, agents, sub-contractors and other associated organizations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you or on your behalf (for example to process payments or provide a specific record check). However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes.

​Please be assured that we will not release your information to third parties beyond the Background Expert Inc. network for them to use for their own direct marketing purposes.

Information sources outside of the United States may be contacted, at the client’s request, in order verify information claimed by an applicant which took place outside of the United States. All personal information will be transmitted and stored in a secure manner in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Notice. In the case of international searches, personal information may be transferred to other countries, including countries that have inadequate privacy laws according to the European Commission or other data protection commissions and/or government authorities.

We may transfer your personal information to a third party if we’re under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation or to enforce or apply our terms of use or to protect the rights, property or safety of our customers. However, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected.

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YOUR RIGHTS

There are laws and regulations designed to protect PII in digital form. Examples of laws include the, the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Privacy Act in Australia, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in Canada, and the General Data Protection Directive in the European Union.

In addition to the company’s safeguards that meet these standards, personal data of EU citizens is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Background Experts Inc, confirms that the data we hold about you will be processed lawfully and fairly. It will be kept securely to prevent unauthorized access by other people. If you find any inaccuracies with the personal data we retain, we will delete or correct them promptly, if permitted by U.S. law.

You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for marketing purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking the relevant boxes on the forms we use to collect your data.

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR EU CITIZENS

​The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides EU citizens with the right to access any information held about you. You can assert this right at any time. We will provide a copy of your information, free of charge.

However, we do reserve the right to charge a ‘reasonable fee’ when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive. We also reserve the right to charge a reasonable fee to comply with further copies of the same information. Any fee will be based on the administrative cost of providing the information. We will endeavor to supply this information without delay and at the latest within one month of receipt. If the request is complex or numerous we can extend this period by a further two months. You will be informed, if this is the case, within one month of the request with an explanation as to why it is necessary.

For the purpose of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the data controller and/or processor is Background Experts, Inc., a company located and operating in the United States, and who can be contacted at 855-294-9500.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR CANADIAN USERS

​This Policy applies to customers, users and applicants in both Canada and the United States. However, to the extent that this Policy is inconsistent with any applicable Canadian laws, Background Experts Inc. will comply with the applicable law for customers, users and applicants in Canada. For example, Background Experts Inc. will only send commercial electronic messages to persons located in Canada with explicit, opt-in consent, unless otherwise permitted pursuant to Canadian legislation that is applicable to such activities.

Applicants who are located in Canada should also understand that the nature of the Services will involve Background Experts Inc. obtaining potentially sensitive personal information about them, including consumer reports, criminal record, driving record, as well as education and employment records, from third parties such as consumer reporting agencies, police services and government agencies (e.g., provincial transportation ministries).

Background Experts Inc. will also share Applicants’ personal information with a third party service provider in Canada, for the purpose of completing or facilitating the background checks described in this Policy.

In addition, personal information that is collected in the course of providing the Services will be transferred outside Canada. Therefore, such information may be accessible to law enforcement and national security authorities in the jurisdiction(s) where it is stored or processed.

​Canadian customers, users and applicants will be notified of any material changes to this Policy, where such change would result in use or disclosure of their personal information by Background Experts Inc. in a manner not contemplated by this Policy or reasonably expected by the individual.

LEGAL GROUNDS FOR USING PERSONAL DATA

​Contractual Commitments: We may use, share, or disclose information to honor our contractual commitments to you.

With Your Consent: Where required by law, and in some other cases, we use, share, or disclose information on the basis of your consent.

Legitimate Interests: In many cases, we use, share, or disclose information on the ground that it furthers our legitimate business interests in ways that are not overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the affected individuals, such as customer service, analyzing and improving our business, providing security for our Services, preventing fraud, and managing legal issues.

Legal Compliance: We need to use, share, and disclose information in certain ways to comply with our legal obligations.

POINT OF CONTACT

​Background Experts Inc. is committed to answer questions and resolve complaints about your privacy and our collection or use of your personal information. If you have any questions or comments about Background Experts Inc. privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact us at:

Background Experts Inc.
Compliance Department
Data Protection Officer
Katherine Young
12191 W. Linebaugh Avenue, #672
Tampa FL, 33626
Phone: 855-294-9500
Email: [email protected]

Transferring Information Outside of the United States

As part of the services offered from Background Experts Inc. for international criminal, education or employment purposes, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the United States. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the United States. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the US in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy. If your data is transferred outside of the US it will be done so to allow us to perform any contractual obligations that are required to provide the services, you or (your employer/potential employer) has requested from us.

SECURITIES PRECAUTIONS IN PLACE

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any sensitive information is encrypted and protected while in transit. When you are on a secure page, a padlock icon will appear on the address bar of web browsers such as Google Chrome.

Our websites are scanned on a regular basis for known vulnerabilities including regular malware scanning. Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have authorized access to such systems and are required to keep the information confidential. Background Experts Inc. cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us by e-mail, and you do so at your own risk.

Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone and we also recommend you change your password regularly.

Security Breach Notification
Background Experts Inc. shall give notice to each organization administrator when the organization’s user information was, or it is reasonably believed to have been, inappropriately accessed as a result of a security breach. Said notice shall be made immediately upon confirmed discovery of the breach (including fulfilling our obligation under the GDPR to notify the ICO within 72 hours) and the time necessary such as to allow Background Experts Inc. to determine the scope of the breach, to identify organizations and individuals affected by the breach, and to restore reasonable integrity of the data system that was breached.

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Policy Changes
Any changes to this policy will be posted here. Please check back frequently for any updates or changes to this privacy policy. This policy was last updated in August 2023.