Consumer reporting agency

Also called CRA · background screening company · FCRA

Definition

A company that assembles consumer information for third parties for employment and similar decisions, regulated under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Context

Defined here to mark a boundary: obtaining your own Identity History Summary is not a consumer report, and this site covers the former only. Employment screening conducted by a third party is a different legal regime entirely.

Government sources

Where this term comes from.

28 CFR Part 16, Subpart C — Production of FBI Identification Records
Office of the Federal Register (eCFR) · reviewed 2026-08-01

Related terms

Where this term is used

The Identity History Summary Is Not an Employment Background CheckTwo different regimes are routinely confused. An Identity History Summary is a record disclosed to its own subject under federal regulation. Commercial employment screening is a separate activity governed by consumer reporting law. This article sets out the distinction.