PBSA 2021

09/21/21 • 2 min

PBSA 2021
The PBSA Annual Conference was held in Anaheim, California. PBSA utilized a hybrid model allow physical attendees and speakers as well as remote access.
There were in-person attendees and remote attendees could access the sessions and networking events virtually.
It was exciting to see friends, colleagues and partners face – to – face, but the conference lacked the typical energy. This was mainly because there were far fewer attendees and there were very few exhibitors. In fact the exhibit hall looked a bit bare because the exhibitors were spread out.
PBSA does a great job of elevating and protecting the screening industry. The massive changes in laws every year impact background screeners and their customers. PBSA is continually monitoring and lobbying to help all of the businesses within the space. The members of PBSA are extremely passionate about helping others.
Here are my big take-aways from the show. While the legal and compliance stuff that is highlighted every year by Pam DeVata and the other attorneys is helpful and scary it is necessary.
From my perspective the most noteworthy change since the last in-person PBSA conference which was in San Antonio back in 2020 would be the efforts by companies to tackle EDUCATION VERIFICATIONS. There have been some really innovative approaches to employment verification that work around The Work Number.
SJV (ebay style marketplace)
Bill Wilder
Citadel
Kirill Klokov
Velocity Network Foundation (Blockchain network)
John Hartigan

Previous Episode

Darrin Lipscomb of Ferretly -- Interview

Interview with Darrin Lipscomb of Ferretly
Darrin is the Founder & CEO of Ferretly

CONNECT WITH DARRIN ON LINKEDIN

Ferretly is a web-based technology that leverages Artificial Intelligence for social media screening.

Darrin has a degree from Virginia Tech and he is a 30-year veteran in the technology industry including launching several software startups with successful exits. His companies have provided unique, forward-thinking solutions focused primarily on Fortune 500 companies and government organizations at the federal and state level.
Prior to launching Ferretly Darrin was the Global CTO for Public Safety and Smart Cities division of Hitachi Data Systems that was formed from the acquisition of his company (Avrio Group) in 2014. Mr. Lipscomb founded Avrio Group in 2003 and within 5 years became known as the premier city-wide video surveillance and smart cities company in North America.

What do we cover on this episode?

1 Is Social Media Background Screening Legal?

2 Why are companies turning to Social Media Background Checks to vet their candidates?
3 Who are the early adopters and what industries do you think can benefit the most?

4. What role does AI play in social media screening at Ferretly?

5. What social media platforms does Ferretly support?

6. Can Ferretly analyze private posts?

7. What type of information do you pull about the subjects?

Integrations: Currently Ferretly has an integration built with Accio which is a common software platform utilized by many background screening companies and they are looking to expand their integrations. They are in talks with Tazworks and they offer integrations via their API.

Next Episode

California Criminal Record Change Complicates Background Screening (UPDATE)

California Criminal Record Change Complicates Background Screening (UPDATE)
The court case impacting the changes was not heard by the appeals court so now the courts are making changes that impact all of us.
Here is a summary of the case in question...
In All of Us or None v. Hamrick, the plaintiffs, including a civil and human rights organization supporting ex-offenders, alleged that Riverside County and its executive officer and clerk allowed users of the Riverside Superior Court’s public website to search the court’s electronic criminal case index by inputting a defendant’s known date of birth and driver’s license number, in violation Rule 2.507. Rule 2.507 specifies the information to be included in and excluded from court calendars, indexes, and registers of actions.
The courts throughout California are removing the full dates of birth from their public access terminals and from the computer systems of the clerks.
Searches by full name and partial date of birth (MM/??/YYYY) are still possible. If the subject you are searching is clear of hits then all is good. If you have a possible hit now a case docket must be requested.
In Los Angeles County the clerks are returning docket requests in approximately 5-business days, which is pretty good. The challenging thing is that each courthouse in Los Angeles County has different rules on how many dockets can be requested per day. Some clerks are limiting researchers to five (5) cases per day while others are not limiting requests.
In San Luis Obispo County the courthouse is closed to the public, so even searches must be sent in via email, fax or mail. Once those come back with hits then dockets must be requested.
The impact to employers is slower turnaround time and potentially increased costs. This is tough especially when employers are staffing up and trying to get people to work so quickly.