Tip of the Month: Safeguarding Employee Data
U.S. prosecutors have filed charges against background screening company USIS (U.S. Investigations Services) for allegedly completing background reports without having gone through a quality review process.
USIS utilized a computer program to “flush” or “dump” background checks which would label the report as “complete” when in fact no quality review was conducted. This is in strict violation of the federal contract that stipulated all background reports must go through a quality assurance review.
It’s reported that over 665,000 reports (40% of the total number of background checks the company conducted) where erroneously cleared without review.
The complaint goes on to allege that between 2008 and 2010, USIS received more than $12 million, money that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) wouldn’t have disbursed if they knew of USIS’s actions.
The charges brought against USIS include false or fraudulent claims, false statements, and breach of contract.
USIS describes itself as “the leading industry provider of background investigations to the federal government, with a long-standing reputation for service, quality and timeliness” on the company’s website.
It should also be noted that USIS was originally part of the OPM, and was privatized in the late 90’s.
Furthermore in the fiscal year 2012 the company received over $253 million for the contract work of the Office of Personnel Management (67% of the entire contract spending for OPM that year).
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