It’s No Longer a Dark Secret
Offshore background screening has become common practice among several old guard companies that process US background checks on the other side of the world without transparency. These companies are sending your candidate’s most sensitive personal identifiers (Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and home addresses) all over the globe as if it’s part of a global supply chain. The most sensitive of these personal identifiers is the Social Security number, which simply has no purpose other than for use inside the US. It is therefore appropriate to ask, “Why should it ever leave the US?”
How did this happen?
It certainly didn’t happen in the clear view of companies using these old guard screening companies. It also, more importantly, didn’t happen in the clear view of job candidates. These companies quietly hired staff in other countries. Hiding behind the cover of global “call centers” and claims of being a “global company,” these firms left users and job candidates with no idea that sensitive information provided by a job candidate to an HR professional would be sent to another country, even though the job is located in the US.
They are not just call centers. They are processing centers.
Many customers of the old guard screening companies are aware that these companies utilize offshore call centers. What the customers do not understand is that the actual background check is also being processed in a foreign country. A US background check cannot be processed without access to full personal identifiers. When a background check report is processed, it requires the individual processing the information to have access to full identifiers.
Why are these companies not openly disclosing their fulfillment methods?
Simply stated, they do not want you to know. They know that their customers will overwhelmingly disapprove. They are certainly aware that job candidates would vehemently disapprove. They count on the lack of awareness to process sensitive information in a low-cost country. The profit motive is more important to the old guard screening companies than being transparent about their data handling processes. None of these companies will ever be caught advertising that they are sending your US candidates’ Social Security numbers to India, the Philippines, South Africa, or Poland for the processing of a US background check. They know that if they tell their prospective customer, they likely will not win their business. Again, they do not want you to know.
Has there been a data breach of offshored Social Security numbers and other identifiers?
Yes. One of the old guard screening companies had a massive data breach in Mumbai, India. The reporting of this breach is public information, and the more than 100,000 job candidates whose names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth were stolen were notified of the data theft. The notification letters sent to affected job candidates did not mention that the theft took place in India. They didn’t want these job candidates to know that they had lost their most sensitive personal information in a foreign country. This demonstrates how these old guard screening companies fail when it comes to transparency and integrity.
What would happen if job candidates were informed in advance that their information was going offshore?
What would happen if job candidates were informed in advance of the background check that their Social Security number and other sensitive personal identifiers were going to be sent to a foreign country? A third-party survey company surveyed job candidates on this very topic, and here are the results:
- 76% of job candidates want it disclosed to them if their personal identifier information is accessed outside of the US.
- 73% of job candidates would not authorize the background check if they knew in advance that their personal identifier information would be accessed outside of the US.
- 74% would consider withdrawing their job application if they were informed that their personal identifier information would be accessed outside of the US.
The survey reveals that the vast majority of job candidates strongly oppose the offshoring of their information.
What do HR Professionals think about offshore background screening practices?
A survey conducted at the SHRM 2026 Annual Conference indicated that:
- 95.3% of surveyed HR Professionals noted that it was unacceptable for job candidate personal identifier information to be sent offshore.
HR Professionals overwhelmingly agree that a job candidate’s most sensitive information should not be sent offshore.
If HR Professionals find it unacceptable, why is this still a practice?
If 95.3% of HR Professionals state that it’s unacceptable to send sensitive personal identifier information offshore, then why is this still a practice? It simply speaks to how effective the old guard screening companies have been at keeping their customers and their candidates unaware of this practice. They fully understand the ramifications of widespread awareness of this issue.
What should HR Professionals be evaluating on this issue?
As HR Professionals become increasingly aware of offshore background screening, decisions will need to be made:
- Do I use a screening company that has a process that nearly 3 out of 4 job candidates disapprove of?
- Do I disclose to the job candidate where the company that has been chosen performs work on US background checks?
- Do I trust a company that has not been transparent about offshore processing?
- Do I allow a practice that has already resulted in a major data privacy breach to be used by my screening company?
AB Global is proudly The Gold Standard in Background Screening®. We apply our Gold Standard Principles of Integrity, Trust, and Transparency to everything that we do.
We would love to be your chosen and trusted background screening partner.
