Specifications

International Screening

A search abroad answers to the source country’s law and cross-border consent — not the FCRA alone.

What it ensures

Data held overseas is governed by the source country’s data-protection regime. This control gates any international search behind source-legality and the consumer’s cross-border consent, recognizing that a U.S.-shaped process doesn’t automatically travel.

It keeps a routine “check the overseas history” step from breaching foreign law.

Watch it run

A candidate’s history needs a check in another country.

Illustrative run — one case moving through the International Screening specification.

Search request Cleared Search conducted Blocked
Permitted transition Forbidden move Start Terminal state
A search abroad answers to the source country’s data-protection law and cross-border consent — not the FCRA alone. Running it without that clearance is in red.
✕ Search abroad 1 ✓ Request 2 ✓ Clearance 3 ✓ Search run
Ready

A check is needed in another country — records held abroad.

  1. Ready

    The request

    The candidate lived overseas. The data there is governed by that country’s law, not just U.S. law.

  2. Blocked

    The wrong move

    A U.S.-shaped process doesn’t travel. Running the search without source-legality and consent under the foreign regime is refused.

    Where it comes from

    International screening is governed by the data-protection law of the source country — for example the EU’s GDPR — which typically requires a lawful basis and the consumer’s consent for cross-border transfer.

    What it satisfies

    Gating the search behind source-legality and cross-border consent follows the applicable foreign data-protection law, which sits alongside the FCRA rather than under it.

    Cross-border data-protection law Guidance Foreign data-protection law and cross-border consent (e.g., GDPR) International screening is governed by the data-protection law of the source country (for example the EU’s GDPR), which typically requires a lawful basis and the consumer’s consent for cross-border transfer. Requirements vary by country and sit alongside, not under, the FCRA.
  3. Permitted

    Cleared

    The source is lawful to use and the consumer has consented to the cross-border check.

  4. Permitted

    Search run

    The overseas check proceeds, lawful where the data lives.

  5. On the record

    The proof

    The file shows the foreign search ran on a lawful basis under the source country’s law.

Why it holds

Why the whole holds

No single country’s law governs a global search. What holds is that a foreign check can’t run without source-legality and cross-border consent. Reliability isn’t knowing every regime; it’s that the uncleared international search has no path.

Why it matters

Running a foreign search without a lawful basis and consent can violate the source country’s data-protection law (such as the GDPR) — exposure that sits alongside the FCRA.