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IRSG PRINCIPLES :
I. Education:
Individual reference services shall individually and through
their industry groups make reasonable efforts to educate
users and the public about privacy issues associated with
their services, the types of services they offer, these
principles, and the benefits of the responsible flow of
information.
II. Reputable Sources:
Individually identifiable information shall be acquired
from only sources known as reputable in the government
and private sectors.
A. Reasonable measures shall be employed to understand
an information source's data collection practices and policies
before accepting information from that source.
B. Individually identifiable information that is collected
for marketing purposes shall not knowingly be purchased,
sold or retained for creating or inclusion in individual
reference services, unless it is public record information
or publicly available information; its use is specifically
permitted by law; or it is collected with notice to the
individual that such information will be used for inclusion
in individual reference service products
III. Accuracy:
Reasonable steps shall be taken to help assure the accuracy
of the information in individual reference services. The
goal of individual reference service products is to furnish
customers with accurate reproductions of information.
A. When contacted by an individual concerning an alleged
inaccuracy about that individual, the individual reference
service, as appropriate, shall either correct any inaccuracy
or inform the individual of the source of the information
and, if reasonably available, where a request for correction
may be directed.
B. The individual reference service's commitment to furnish
users with reasonably accurate reproduction of information
in public record information systems does not permit alteration
of the substantive content of public record information
products or services.
IV. Public Record and Publicly
Available Information:
public record information and publicly available information
shall be usable without restriction unless legally prohibited.
V. Distribution of Non-Public
Information:
Except as provided in section IX, non-public information
will be distributed only according to the criteria set
forth below. The nature of nonpublic information being
requested and the intended uses of such information shall
determine the level of review of the subscriber. Companies
who supply information covered by this section to individual
reference services shall provide such information only
to individual reference services that adopt or comply with
these principles.
A. Selective and Limited Distribution of Nonpublic
Information: Individual reference services may distribute
nonpublic information without restriction of its contents
only to qualified subscribers.
1. Qualified subscribers for the selective and limited
distribution of nonpublic information must satisfy the
following conditions:
a. The subscribers must state their appropriate uses
for such information.
b. The subscribers must agree to limit their use
and re-dissemination of such information to such appropriate
uses.
c. The subscribers shall be reasonably identified
and meet qualification requirements that establish
them as appropriate users of the information and agree
to terms and conditions consistent with these principles
prior to accessing the information.
2. Each individual reference service shall take reasonable
steps to protect against misuse of nonpublic information
distributed pursuant to this subsection which will include:
a. Each individual reference service shall make available
upon request an explanation of what uses of its information
are appropriate and to which types of qualified subscribers
such information is available.
b. Individual reference services shall conduct a
reasonable review of the subscriber and its intended
uses of the information prior to making nonpublic information
available to the subscriber.
c. Individual reference services shall maintain a
record of the identity of subscribers, the types of
uses, and the terms and conditions agreed to by the
subscriber for three years after termination of each
subscriber's relationship with the individual reference
service.
d. Reasonable measures shall be employed to help
assure that qualified subscribers use nonpublic information
appropriately.
e. Individual reference services shall implement
reasonable mechanisms to remedy subscriber abuses of
the information.
B. Commercial and Professional Distribution of Nonpublic
Information: Individual reference services, when
they limit the nonpublic information content of their
products or services as set forth below, may distribute
such products or services only to established professional
and commercial users who use the information in the normal
course and scope of their business or profession and
the use is appropriate for such activities.
1. nonpublic information products or services distributed
pursuant to this subsection shall not include:
a. Information that reflects credit history, financial
history, medical records, mother's maiden name identified
as such, or similar information;
b. Certain information like social security number
and birth information unless truncated in an appropriate
and industry consistent manner.
2. Users shall agree to terms and conditions consistent
with these principles prior to accessing the nonpublic
information, shall agree to use such information solely
in the normal course and scope of their business or profession
and that the use is appropriate for such activities and
that they shall limit their use and re-dissemination
of such information to such uses and in accordance with
these principles.
3. Individual reference services shall take reasonable
steps to protect against misuse of the nonpublic information
distributed pursuant to this subsection which will include:
a. If not previously established, the individual
reference service shall take reasonable steps to identify
the user and to establish the user as an established
professional or commercial entity.
b. Reasonable measures shall be employed to help
assure that commercial and professional customers use
nonpublic information appropriately.
c. Individual reference services shall implement
reasonable mechanisms to remedy subscriber abuses of
the information.
d. Individual reference services shall maintain a
record of the identity of subscribers and the terms
and conditions agreed to by the subscriber for three
years after termination of each subscriber's relationship
with the individual reference service.
C. General Distribution of Nonpublic Information:
Individual reference services, when they limit the nonpublic
information content of their products or services as set
forth in this subparagraph, may distribute such products
or services to any person.
1. nonpublic information distributed pursuant to this
subparagraph shall not knowingly include information
that reflects social security number, mother's maiden
name identified as such, non-published telephone number,
or non-published address information obtained from telephone
companies, birth information, credit history, financial
history, medical records, or similar information, nor
will the service be retrievable by a social security
number.
2. The individual reference service shall take reasonable
steps to protect against the misuse of nonpublic information.
VI. Security:
Individual reference services shall maintain facilities
and systems to protect information from unauthorized access
and persons who may exceed their authorization. In addition
to physical and electronic security, individual reference
services shall reasonably implement:
A. Employee and contractor supervision-Employees and
contractors shall be required to sign confidentiality agreements
and be subject to supervision.
B. Reviews-System reviews shall be made at appropriate
intervals to assure that employees are complying with policies.
VII. Openness:
Each individual reference service shall have an information
practices policy statement that describes what types of
information it has, from what types of sources, how it
is collected, the type of entities to whom it may be disclosed
and the type of uses to which it is put, and shall make
its policy statement available upon request. Consumers
shall be notified about these practices in various ways
such as:
1. Web sites;
2. Advertisements; or
3. Company or industry-initiated educational efforts.
VIII. Choice:
Each individual reference service shall upon request inform
individuals of the choices, if any, available to limit
access or use of information about them in its data base,
provided, however, that in the case of nonpublic information
distributed to the general public (section V.C of these
principles), an individual reference service shall provide
an opportunity for an individual to limit the general public's
access or use of such nonpublic information.
IX. Access:
Upon request and reasonable terms, an individual reference
service shall:
A. Inform an individual about the nature of public record
and publicly available information that it makes available
in its products and services and the sources of such information;
B. Provide individuals with nonpublic information contained
in products and services that specifically identifies them
and that are distributed as part of an individual reference
service to users under section V. of these Principles unless
the information was obtained on a limited use basis from
a governmental agency or if its disclosure is limited by
law or legally recognized privilege; and
C. Direct individuals to a consumer reporting agency
regulated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act where such agency
is the source of the information about the individual.
X. Children:
Where an individual is identified in the product or service
as being under the age of 18, no nonpublic information about
that individual shall be provided for other than selective
and limited distribution purposes or for the purposes of
locating missing children.
XI. Assurance of Compliance:
The signers of these principles shall have completed within
15 months of the effective date of these principles, and
on a periodic basis thereafter, at least once every year,
an assurance review done by a reasonably qualified independent
professional service. The independent professional service
shall apply assurance criteria consistent with these principles
and approved by the signers as a group. Individual reference
services shall have a reasonable opportunity to respond to
any concerns expressed in such assurance review. A summary
reflecting both the report and any subsequent actions taken
or response made by the company shall be publicly available.
REFUND POLICY:
We research and provide data look up services for consumers
and businesses. Our searches are conducted based on the data
you have provided. The results are based on that data and reported
to you. We distribute public-record and non-public information
obtained directly from government entities or from reputable
third parties who have compiled such information from governmental
entities, however we cannot guarantee the accuracy and/or extent
of the results.
You pay for our search service, not the results. We will
not grant a refund after a search has been conducted, except
in the following instances ONLY:
- In the event you were charged more than once for a single
order. All such claims require submission of valid proof
of purchase reflecting the charges. Refunds granted may
take up to three weeks to show a credit on your statement.
- In the event you did not receive your results.
- In the event data we provided is proven to be inaccurate.
All such claims require submission of faxed valid documents
and source information proving the provided data was inaccurate.
Refunds would be granted based on the documents received
and the additional research conducted. Refunds granted
may take up to three weeks to show a credit on your statement.
To submit a claim for a refund, please download the Refund
Form(Word, PDF)
. Fill it out and fax it to us at: 303-573-1779.
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