When Can I Use PeopleLooker?
PeopleLooker is proud to offer some of the most affordable easy-to-use public record information available. Every day, millions of customers use us to look up lost relatives, scope out online dates, monitor social media presence and related personal reputation, update contact lists, look up phone numbers and so much more. But there are some federal laws prohibiting the use of certain public information in some contexts, and our Terms & Conditions also contain some important restrictions. We take these laws and terms of use very seriously, and expect that our customers will do so as well.
Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you cannot use PeopleLooker or any other non-Consumer Reporting Agency people search service for:
Employment Screening
Tenant Screening
Hiring Household Workers
Educational Qualification
Assessing Creditworthiness
Business Transactions Initiated by an Individual Customer
If you are doing any of the six aforementioned activities, or anything similar, you must access the information you are seeking via a FCRA-governed Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA), such as Transunion, Equifax and Experian, which focus on credit and finances, or a company such as Good Hire, which focuses on employment screening. A complete list of Consumer Reporting Agencies can be found on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s website. PeopleLooker offers a people search service, but is NOT a Consumer Reporting Agency working directly with creditors to obtain and provide non-publicly available information about people.
Real Life Examples
We strongly encourage all ours users to closely review our Terms & Conditions, but by way of general illustration, offer the following frequently asked questions.
May I use PeopleLooker to check out my babysitter’s background?
No. Just as an employer may not use PeopleLooker for considering another for employment, the same restrictions precludes use for evaluating another for household help, including, nannies, domestic workers, gardeners and caregivers for the elderly. While it may be tempting to run a quick search on someone with whom you or your loved ones come into regular contact, if that person will be an employee or any of the above, you must comply with FCRA and solely use a CRA, and NOT our website.
May I use PeopleLooker to check out the adults that spend time with my kids?
Sometimes. As explained and further set forth in our Terms & Conditions, you cannot use PeopleLooker to check out those that would serve an employee role, and many people who come into contact with your children may fall into that category. However, absent such a relationship, you may be entitled to search for pertinent information concerning someone, for example, that is driving your child’s car pool.
May I use PeopleLooker to check out a potential roommate?
PeopleLooker may be available for searching a potential roommate but PROVIDED that you are not leasing or renting to the roommate. If you own, manage or control the property and/or are the named person on the lease and/or are subletting to the tenant, then you are acting in a landlord-like role and landlords are strictly prohibited from using PeopleLooker to evaluate tenants and the like and must employ a CRA when vetting potential tenants.
May I use PeopleLooker to check out someone I am dating?
Yes. Many of our customers use our services to search those that they meet in online dating sites or when meeting new people, whether friends, finding friends in common and/or a new romantic interest. PeopleLooker may provide a wide range of useful information and even potentially a criminal history; however, PeopleLooker should never take the place of exercising due care and sound judgment.
May I use PeopleLooker to consider a potential business relationship?
Possibly, depending upon the specific scenario but please remember that you may not use PeopleLooker to make employment decisions, when acting in a hiring or personnel consideration capacity, to extend credit/debt, assess creditworthiness or evaluate someone for an insurance or financial product.
May I use PeopleLooker to find a lost love or an old classmate or friend?
Yes. Many use PeopleLooker to try and reconnect with old friends, whether to locate a current address when sending invitations to a wedding, for a holiday card list or simply reconnecting with a childhood best friend. However, we encourage our users to be honest about whether a person wants to reconnect and respect boundaries as appropriate. If you engage in any behavior that might reasonably be considered stalking or spying, especially harassment or other behavior prohibited by law, you are strictly forbidden from using PeopleLooker for such use, as further set forth in our Terms & Conditions
May I use PeopleLooker to search buyers or sellers on online sites like eBay and Craigslist?
While FCRA governs how businesses use background reports to make long-term business decisions, the average non-business consumer should be able to use PeopleLooker to try to find out more about buyers and sellers online.
Besides the examples set forth above, PeopleLooker has numerous other restrictions, enumerated in our Terms & Conditions, and as a general rule, PeopleLooker is never available to contact others against their will, harass, stalk, spy on another, hijack another’s identity or commit a crime.
If you’re still unsure whether your use of PeopleLooker is permissible, please closely consult our Terms and Conditions or Contact Us