Privacy
Privacy policy
Effective October 21, 2026
Northland Screening Company is a consumer reporting agency in Cleveland, Ohio. Porchlight and Roster are its trade names. In this policy, "we" means Northland Screening Company under any of those names.
This policy explains what personal information we collect, where it comes from, how we use and share it, and the rights you have. It applies to our websites (northlandscreening.com, porchlightscreening.com, rosterchecks.com) and to the background checks we prepare.
Who this policy covers
- People we screen. Job applicants, workers, contractors, and providers whose background check a customer orders from us.
- Customers. Businesses that order background checks from us, and the people who use their accounts.
- Visitors. Anyone who visits our websites or contacts us.
Information we collect
About people we screen
- Name and any former names, date of birth, Social Security number, email, and phone number.
- Current and past addresses.
- The disclosure and authorization you sign before a check runs.
- Public records we search for the check: criminal court records, sex offender and other registries, and identity and address history.
- Anything you send us, for example when you ask about your report or dispute something in it.
About customers
- Business name and address, and the names, emails, and phone numbers of account users.
- The checks you order and your certification of why you're ordering them.
- Billing details.
From visitors and anyone who contacts us
- What you send us, such as a message or a sign-up form.
- Technical information, such as IP address and browser type, that our hosting provider, Cloudflare, processes to deliver and protect our sites.
Where it comes from
- From you.
- From the customer who orders your check.
- From courts, government agencies, and other public record sources.
- From companies that compile public records and provide them to consumer reporting agencies.
How we use it
- To prepare background check reports, only for customers who certify a purpose the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) allows, such as employment.
- To send the disclosure and authorization, and other notices the law requires.
- To answer questions about a report and to handle disputes.
- To set up and run customer accounts, bill customers, and reply to messages.
- To keep the records the law requires and to comply with the law.
- To run our websites and protect them from abuse.
We don't sell personal information. We don't use information about people we screen to market to them.
How we share it
- With the customer who ordered the check. They get the report for that check.
- With you. If we prepared a report about you, you can get a copy of your file.
- With service providers. Companies that work for us, such as court researchers, public record providers, hosting, email, and payment processing.
- When the law requires it. For example, to respond to a subpoena or court order.
- In a business change. If we merge, sell, or reorganize part of the company, personal information may move with it.
- With your permission.
Your rights under the FCRA
If we prepared a background check report about you, the FCRA gives you rights, including:
- You can ask what's in your file. It's free in many cases, including when an employer took action against you because of the report.
- You can dispute anything in your file that you think is incomplete or wrong. We reinvestigate at no cost, usually within 30 days, and send you the results in writing.
- An employer must get your written permission before ordering a check, and must tell you before acting against you because of it.
Read the full list in A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (PDF). We'll post how to request your file or start a dispute here before we run our first check.
State privacy rights
Some states, such as California, give residents rights to access, correct, or delete personal information, and to opt out of its sale. Information covered by the FCRA is generally exempt from those laws, but other information, such as website and customer contact information, may not be. To make a request, contact us using the details below. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.
How long we keep it
We keep background check reports, signed authorizations, and dispute records as long as the law requires. We keep other information as long as we need it for the reason we collected it, then delete it.
Security
We limit who can see information about people we screen to the people who need it for their work. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't promise that information will never be accessed without permission.
Cookies and tracking
Our websites don't set their own cookies or use analytics or advertising trackers. Cloudflare may set a cookie if it needs to check that a visitor isn't an automated bot.
Children
Our websites aren't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them through our websites.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll post the new version here and update the date above.
Contact us
Questions about this policy or a request about your information: info@northlandscreening.com. Northland Screening Company, Cleveland, Ohio.