Background screeners, DPOs and transfers of data from the EU to the US

Background screening companies that plan to conduct a background investigation or check on an individual who lives, or previously lived and worked, in the European Union (EU) should consider the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) before transferring data to the United States from the EU.

GDPR requires the designation of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) who can be an internal employee or can be hired as an outside consultant to work with a controller or processor. Failure to do so could result in administrative fines of up to 10 million Euros or up to 2% of the "total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year".