Social Intelligence Corp. Launches Social Media Background Check & Monitoring for Employers

HR Industry’s First FCRA-Compliant Social Media Screening & Monitoring Service Improves Hiring Decisions, Mitigates Organizational Risks

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Social Intelligence Corp., a provider of specialized employment screening and monitoring services, today launched its Social Intelligence product line, a range of analytics and services designed to scour the expanding web of social media for insight into employment and organizational risks. The new product line features a candidate screening service called Social Intelligence Hiring and an active monitoring service called Social Intelligence Monitoring, which enables companies to enforce social media policy and limit their exposure to reputational damage and legal liability. The new products create a previously untapped category in the $3 billion background screening services market.

“The explosion of user-generated content online has presented employers with new challenges in using social media and other information found on the Internet to screen potential employees”

“Almost every company hiring today is ‘Googling’ potential candidates,” said Max Drucker, CEO and President of Social Intelligence Corp. “But that is not enough; companies need to have a systematic, compliance-friendly approach that encompasses the deep web of sites and blogs extending far beyond Facebook and Twitter. Social media has been the wild west of HR for the last several years; this product launch represents a significant step toward social media screening becoming fully integrated into the HR workflow, complete with best practices that adhere to state and federal employment laws.”

Social Intelligence Hiring provides HR professionals with the knowledge and tools necessary to gain insight from social media while ensuring consistent hiring practices and adherence to State and Federal employment laws. Tracking the worldwide network of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, LinkedIn, individual blogs and thousands of other sources, Social Intelligence Hiring provides a comprehensive online profile of job applicants. Following are its key features:

• Automated & Manual Review of All Applicants: Using a combination of automated data collection and manual categorization and review processes, Social Intelligence Hiring is able to produce full candidate screening reports in 24-48 hours while removing false positives and erroneous information that can result from fully automated services.
• Company Specific Filtering & Categorization: Social Intelligence Hiring uses company defined pass/fail criteria, presented in an easily understood report that brings consistency and a verifiable chain-of-custody to the previously unstructured social media screening process.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Compliance: Operating as a Consumer Reporting Agency, Social Intelligence Corp. developed its screening processes to be FCRA-compliant, allowing employers to screen candidates’ social media profiles and online content without being exposed to protected class and other “Federally Protected” personal information.

Social Intelligence Monitoring provides employers with the tools necessary to protect their companies from the misuse of social media by ensuring employees are adhering to the guidelines defined by their social media policy. Following are its key features:

• Active Monitoring w/ Real-time Notification: Alerts regarding flagged criteria are provided to employers in real-time enabling companies to react to looming crises.
• Company Specific Monitoring Criteria: Social Intelligence Monitoring uses company defined filters which can be tailored to a company’s specific culture when evaluating employee’s social media usage and assessing a company’s exposure.
• Manual Review of All Incidents: The manual review of incidents by a social media expert ensures consistency and removes the opportunity for false positives.

“The explosion of user-generated content online has presented employers with new challenges in using social media and other information found on the Internet to screen potential employees,” said Renee Jackson, Esq., an associate at Nixon Peabody LLP and author of a recent National Law Journal article entitled, “Social Media Permeate the Employment Life Cycle.” “In this new and evolving digital landscape, a sound HR strategy should include consistent screening policies and practices to guard against potential liability.”

About Social Intelligence

Social Intelligence Corp. is a subsidiary of Riv Data, a private data company based in Santa Barbara, CA founded by software entrepreneurs and veterans Max Drucker and Geoff Andrews to fully utilize the power of social media. Riv Data provides human resources, legal, compliance, and risk management organizations the tools, technology, and service to facilitate better hiring decisions and reduce organizational risk. Social Intelligence Hiring is a background screening service that enables employers to navigate the complicated landscape of social media with clear, consistent, and insightful results. Using a combination of automated and manual review processes, Social Intelligence Hiring empowers human resources personnel to make informed hiring decisions without the associated risks. For more information, please visit www.socialintelligencehr.com.