Law · United States (federal)
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and face search
The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 regulates consumer reporting agencies and anyone who uses a consumer report to decide on credit, employment, housing or insurance. It is the reason every face search engine states that it is not a consumer reporting agency and must not be used for those decisions: a tool used to screen tenants or job applicants takes on FCRA duties it cannot meet.
Updated November 6, 2026 · 4 min read · reviewed November 6, 2026
- 1970
- Enacted; the oldest US privacy statute still in daily use
- $100 to $1,000
- Statutory damages per willful violation in private suits
- 4
- Decision types that trigger the Act: credit, employment, insurance, housing
15 U.S.C. 1681
15 U.S.C. 1681n
15 U.S.C. 1681b
What does the FCRA cover?
The Act regulates consumer reports: communications of information bearing on a person's character, reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living, used or expected to be used in deciding on credit, insurance, employment, housing or similar purposes. A consumer reporting agency is anyone who regularly assembles such information for a fee to furnish reports to third parties. Agencies must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy, give consumers access and dispute rights, and furnish reports only for a permissible purpose. Users of reports, such as employers and landlords, must give notices before taking adverse action.
The Act is technology-neutral. The FTC said in 2012 and again in a 2024 report on background screening that a company assembling information from public records or the internet and selling it for employment or tenant decisions is a consumer reporting agency whatever it calls itself. That is why people-search sites and face search engines carry prominent disclaimers.
Who enforces it?
The CFPB holds rulemaking and supervisory authority since 2011; the FTC enforces against most non-bank companies; state attorneys general may sue; and consumers have a private right of action with statutory damages for willful violations. Notable actions include Spokeo (FTC, 2012, $800,000 for marketing profiles compiled from social media to employers) and TransUnion's 2022 CFPB settlement.
What does it mean for face search?
A face search returns public pages where a similar face appears. If a landlord, employer, insurer or lender uses such a result to decide about a person, the engine risks being treated as a consumer reporting agency without the accuracy, dispute and permissible-purpose machinery the Act demands, and the user risks adverse-action violations. Engines therefore state in their terms and on-screen that they are not consumer reporting agencies and that results must not be used for credit, employment, insurance or tenant screening; FaceCheck.ID and FaceSearch publish the restriction prominently, and most others do in their terms. The restriction is a condition of use, not a technical control, so the burden sits with the person running the search.
| Use | FCRA position |
|---|---|
| Checking where your own photos appear | Not a consumer report; no FCRA issue |
| Checking a dating match or a marketplace seller for personal safety | Outside the Act's listed purposes; other laws may still apply |
| Screening a job applicant or employee | A consumer-report purpose; the engine's terms prohibit it and the employer would owe FCRA duties |
| Screening a tenant, borrower or insured | Same: prohibited by engine terms, FCRA duties attach to the user |
| Journalism or research about a public figure | Outside the Act's purposes |
What are the penalties?
- Negligent violation: actual damages, costs and attorney fees.
- Willful violation: actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per consumer, plus punitive damages; class actions multiply this across every affected person.
- FTC and CFPB civil penalties and consent orders, which have reached the tens of millions of dollars against screening companies.
- Obtaining a consumer report under false pretences: a criminal offence with fines and up to two years' imprisonment.
What is pending or unsettled?
- The CFPB proposed in late 2024 to treat data brokers that sell certain personal data as consumer reporting agencies; the proposal was withdrawn in 2025 and its future is uncertain.
- No court has decided whether a consumer face search engine is a consumer reporting agency; the question turns on how its results are actually used and marketed.
- States including California and New York have added their own screening rules that sit on top of the FCRA.
Questions
Is a face search engine a consumer reporting agency?
Engines say they are not and prohibit screening uses. Whether the Act applies depends on how results are assembled and used; a tool marketed or used for employment or tenant decisions can be one regardless of its own label.
Can an employer use a face search to check an applicant?
Engine terms prohibit it, and doing so would bring FCRA duties: a permissible purpose, disclosures, consent and adverse-action notices that a face search cannot provide.
Does the FCRA stop me searching my own face?
No. Looking up information about yourself is not a consumer report to a third party.
What should I do if a background check used a face search result?
You have dispute rights against the reporting agency and a right to a copy of the report. The CFPB complaint portal and a consumer attorney are the usual routes.
Sources
- 1.Legal Information Institute, 15 U.S. Code Chapter 41, Subchapter III, Credit Reporting Agencies (checked November 6, 2026)
- 2.Federal Trade Commission, Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know (checked November 6, 2026)
- 3.Federal Trade Commission, Spokeo to pay $800,000 to settle FTC charges (2012) (checked November 6, 2026)
Entry reviewed November 6, 2026. Found an error? Tell us.
Related entries
- Law California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA, as amended by the CPRA) California CCPA/CPRA: biometric data as sensitive personal information, the rights to know, delete and limit, CPPA and Attorney General enforcement, and face search.
- Law Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) Illinois BIPA (740 ILCS 14): consent before collecting face geometry, a private right of action, $1,000 to $5,000 per violation, the 2024 amendment, and face search.
- Term Data broker Data broker defined: companies that compile and sell profiles of people, how people-search sites differ from face search engines, and the opt-out laws.
- Term OSINT (open-source intelligence) OSINT defined: intelligence from public sources, the image and face techniques it uses, who practises it, and the ethics and laws that bound it.
- Directory Opt-out routes for every face search engine Opt-out routes for 20 face and image search engines side by side: form or email, verification asked for, stated timeline, cost and link. Checked Nov 6, 2026.
Cite this entry
FaceSearch Wiki editors. "Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and face search". FaceSearch Wiki, updated November 6, 2026. https://facesearch.wiki/laws/us-fcra/