A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to promote accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every “consumer reporting agency” (CRA). Most CRAs are credit bureaus that gather and sell information about you -- such as if you pay your bills on time or have filed bankruptcy -- to creditors, employers, landlords, and other businesses. You can find the complete text of the FCRA, 15 U.S.C. §§1681-1681u, at the Federal Trade Commission’s web site (http://www.ftc.gov). The FCRA gives you specific rights, as outlined below. You may have additional rights under state law. You may contact a state or local consumer protection agency or a state attorney general to learn those rights.

You must be told if information in your file has been used against you.
Anyone who uses information from a CRA to take action against you -- such as denying an application for credit, insurance or employment -- must tell you, and give you the name, address, and phone number of the CRA that provided the consumer report.

You can find out what is in your file.  At your request, a CRA must give you the information in your file, and a list of everyone who has requested it recently. There is no charge for the report if a person has taken action against you because of information supplied by the CRA, if you request the report within 60 days of receiving notice of the action. You also are entitled to one free report every twelve months upon request if you certify that (1) you are unemployed and plan to seek employment within 60 days, (2) you are on welfare, or (3) your report is inaccurate due to fraud. Otherwise, a CRA may charge you up to eight dollars.

You can dispute inaccurate information with the CRA.  If you tell a CRA that your file contains inaccurate information, the CRA must investigate the items (usually within 30 days) by presenting to its information source all relevant evidence you submit, unless your dispute is frivolous. The source must review your evidence and report its findings to the CRA. (The source also must advise national CRAs -- to which it has provided the data -- of any error.) The CRA must give you a written report of the investigation, and a copy of your report if the investigation results in any change. If the CRA’s investigation does not resolve the dispute, you may add a brief statement to your file. The CRA must normally include a summary of your statement in future reports. If an item is deleted or a dispute statement is filed, you may ask that anyone who has recently received your report be notified of the change.

Inaccurate information must be corrected or deleted.  A CRA must remove or correct inaccurate or unverified information from its files, usually within 30 days after you dispute it. However, the CRA is not required to remove accurate data from your file unless it is outdated (as described below) or cannot be verified.

If your dispute results in any change to your report, the CRA cannot reinsert into your file a disputed item unless the information source verifies its accuracy and completeness. In addition, the CRA must give you written notice telling you it has reinserted the item. The notice must include the name, address and phone number of the information source.

You can dispute inaccurate items with the source of the information.  If you tell anyone -- such as a creditor who reports to a CRA -- that you dispute an item, they may not then report the information to a CRA without including a notice of your dispute. In addition, once you’ve notified the source of the error in writing, it may not continue to report the information if it is, in fact, an error.

Outdated information may not be reported.  In most cases, a CRA may not report negative information that is more than seven years old; ten years for bankruptcies.

Access to your file is limited.  A CRA may provide information about you only to people with a need recognized by the FCRA -- usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business.

Your consent is required for reports that are provided to employers, or reports that contain medical information.  A CRA may not give out information about you to your employer, or prospective employer, without your written consent. A CRA may not report medical information about you to creditors, insurers, or employers without your permission.

You may choose to exclude your name from CRA lists for unsolicited credit and insurance offers.  Creditors and insurers may use file information as the basis of sending you unsolicited offers of credit or insurance. Such offers must include a toll-free phone number for you to call if you want your name and address removed from future lists. If you call, you must be kept off the lists for two years. If you request, complete, and return the CRA form provided for this purpose you must be taken off the lists indefinitely.

You may seek damages from violators.  If a CRA, a user or (in some cases) a provider of CRA data, violates the FCRA, you may sue them in state or federal court.

California Applicants Only 

Disclosure Regarding Investigative Consumer Reports Under California Law 

TO ALL APPLICANTS FOR EMPLOYMENT:

In connection with the processing of information for your application for employment, an investigative consumer report regarding your character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living will be made. If Starbucks obtains any investigative consumer report, we may use such report for the purpose of evaluating you for employment, promotion, reassignment or retention as an employee.

      ChoicePoint, Inc
      1200 Bluegrass Parkway
      Alpharetta, GA 30004

Excluded from this inquiry are the following:

State Specific Disclosures: CO, IL, MD, MA,OK and WA 

COLORADO applicants only:  Excluded from this inquiry are convictions contained in sealed records.

ILLINOIS applicants only:  Excluded from this inquiry are convictions for which the records have been ordered expunged, sealed, or impounded pursuant to Illinois law.

MARYLAND applicants only:  Excluded from this inquiry are convictions for which the records have been expunged.

MASSACHUSETTS applicants only:  Excluded from this inquiry are the following:

• Information regarding a first conviction for any of the following misdemeanors: drunkenness, simple assault, speeding, minor traffic violations, affray, or disturbance of the peace.
• Information regarding a conviction for a misdemeanor where the date of the conviction or the completion of any period on incarceration resulting there from (whichever date is later) occurred five or more years prior to the date of this application, unless you were convicted of any offense within the five years immediately preceding the date of the employment application.

OKLAHOMA applicants only:  Excluded from this inquiry are convictions contained in sealed records.

WASHINGTON applicants only: 

• Dishonesty or breach of trust (including but not limited to theft, embezzlement, fraud, forgery and money laundering);
• Property damage (including but not limited to vandalism and arson); or
• Personal injury (including but not limited to assault and battery).

Section 2 - Canadian Applicants

Disclosure Statement 
I have applied to Starbucks Coffee Canada for employment. I acknowledge that it is reasonable and necessary for Starbucks Coffee Canada to make inquiries into and request reports concerning my educational, employment, credit, driving and/or criminal history in order to assess my suitability for employment and ensure that information I have provided in my employment application is accurate. I understand that these investigations are conducted by Starbucks Coffee Canada and/or its authorized agent, ChoicePoint and that Starbucks Coffee Canada may request ChoicePoint to provide reports from all applicable government agencies, educational institutions and private businesses concerning same.

Therefore, at this time and until I specifically inform you to the contrary in writing, in compliance with all applicable human rights, consumer reporting and privacy legislation I hereby authorize and direct you to release to Starbucks Coffee Canada and/or ChoicePoint, information that you have access to concerning my past or current employment, my education record, my credit history, my driver’s abstract, my record of Criminal Code convictions for which a pardon has not been granted, including whether there are any Criminal Code charges pending, and/or any other information contained in your files relevant to my employment.

I understand that ChoicePoint provides information only and that it is Starbucks Coffee Canada and not ChoicePoint, who will decide whether to employ me or not. I also understand that ChoicePoint collects and uses the information it receives solely for the purpose of transmitting it to Starbucks Coffee Canada pursuant to this consent and that ChoicePoint will retain a copy of the information received and transmitted as required by law. Accordingly, I will not take any action against Kroll in any way related to any information disclosed by ChoicePoint or any adverse decisions made as a result of the information transmitted to Starbucks Coffee Canada by ChoicePoint.