FCRA and legal use

The method for staying on the right side of consumer-reporting law lives on people search is not a background check. This page is the short policy only — permitted uses, hard stops, and official statutes. Do not treat this help article as the full method.

OneSearch is not a background check service. We are not a consumer reporting agency (CRA) under the U.S. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). We do not provide consumer reports for employment, tenant screening, credit, or insurance eligibility decisions.

What OneSearch is for

OneSearch helps you find and summarize publicly available web information — professional profiles, news mentions, and similar open sources — with linked citations. Typical uses include meeting preparation, outreach research, journalism, and general professional context gathering.

What OneSearch is not for

• Hire/no-hire or promotion decisions based on regulated records
• Tenant or rental eligibility screening
• Credit, insurance, or lending decisions
• Any purpose that requires an FCRA-compliant consumer report
• Harassment, stalking, or discrimination

If your workflow requires a background check, use an FCRA-compliant provider and follow your organization's legal and HR procedures — including disclosure, authorization, and adverse-action steps where applicable.

FCRA overview (U.S.)

The FCRA regulates consumer reporting agencies and the use of consumer reports. It includes requirements for permissible purpose, accuracy, disputes, and adverse action. General information is available from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This page is not legal advice.

• FTC — Fair Credit Reporting Act
• CFPB — Credit reports and scores

Related policies

Read our Privacy Policy for data handling, our Terms of Service for acceptable use, and our opt-out page if you want to request removal from OneSearch results.

OneSearch is public web research only. It is not a background check and must not be used for FCRA-regulated screening decisions.

This help article may be expanded. If you have compliance questions about your specific use case, consult qualified legal counsel.