consumer Fair Credit Reporting Act
EPIC Amicus - Appeals Court Finds Inaccurate Background Reports Violate Federal Privacy Law
A federal appeals court has ruled that LexisNexis violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by selling background reports that wrongly included criminal convictions for innocent individuals. EPIC filed an amicus brief in the case, highlighting the failure of crediting reporting agencies to adopt reasonable procedures to ensure accuracy. EPIC said that it is not enough to follow “industry standards” if inaccurate reports still result. The court found that Lexis was negligent because it failed to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” of the information.