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Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to the TalentShield website (the "Site"). TalentShield, a d/b/a of Intelius Screening Solutions LLC (hereafter referred to as "TalentShield"), provides background verification subject to the following Terms of Use. The words "You" or "User," as used herein, refer to all individuals and/or entities accessing or using the Site for any reason. Permission to use the Site and TalentShield Certification services is conditioned upon Your acceptance, without modification, of the terms and conditions set forth herein. Please read these Terms of Use carefully. These Terms of Use include the TalentShield Privacy Policy located at http://www.talentshield.com/privacy_policy.php, which is incorporated and made a part of these Terms of Use. Note that the terms and conditions set forth herein may change at any time. Therefore, You should review the applicable terms and conditions at the beginning of every return visit to the Site. By accessing or using the Site, You agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, including TalentShield's Privacy Policy.

What is TalentShield Certification?

In this competitive marketplace, job seekers are looking for an edge - a way to distinguish themselves from others in a pool of highly qualified job candidates. The TalentShield Certification service gives the applicant that edge. The TalentShield Certification service gives job seekers the opportunity to have their educational, professional and licensing credentials as well as their Criminal Background verified before actually meeting with potential employers. With many employers across the nation performing some form of background verification as a pre-condition to employment (or as a condition to continued employment), TalentShield Certification gives the employee an opportunity to enhance the integrity their resume and demonstrate foresight to a prospective employer. TalentShield Certification provides the prospective employer with an opportunity to speed-up the hiring process and reduces costs by being presented with qualified individuals who have been verified in advance.

How Does it Work?

Those Users seeking TalentShield Certification begin by creating a User profile and submitting their own resumes, background information, and other personal data (collectively "Profile Data") through the TalentShield Site. At this time, TalentShield Certification is granted only with respect to the User's identity, as well as four types of Profile Data: a User's licensing credentials, employment history, educational record and criminal background/sex offender information. Such verification of Profile Data is made by TalentShield in accordance with the criteria set forth below. For purposes of this section, the term "personal identifiers" shall include: name, address, date of birth, and social security number.

  • License Verification: TalentShield will seek to verify with the original entity responsible for issuing a commercial or professional license, that the type and name of the license submitted for TalentShield Certification was issued to the User with at least two personal identifiers provided by the User, and is valid at the time of verification. TalentShield will attempt to contact the source of information or other repository a minimum of five times before stating that any information is not verifiable.
  • Employment Verification: For each place of employment or position held for which a User seeks to obtain a TalentShield Certification, TalentShield will seek to verify that the information provided is true and accurate by confirming such information as well as confirming at least two personal identifiers of the User either with the original source of that information, or a trusted third party repository of such information. TalentShield will attempt to contact the source of information or other repository a minimum of five times before stating that any information is not verifiable.
  • Education Verification: For each education component (including but not limited to degree, attendance, academic awards and honors) for which a User seeks to obtain a TalentShield Certification, TalentShield will seek to verify that the information provided is true and accurate by confirming such information as well as confirming at least two personal identifiers of the User either with the original source of that information, or a trusted third party repository of such information. TalentShield will attempt to contact the source of information or other repository a minimum of five times before stating that any information is not verifiable.
  • Criminal Conviction and Sex Offender Registry Verification
    • Nationwide Sex Offender Registry Search: The Nationwide Sex Offender Registry Search is a nationwide search against state and federal sex offender registries covering 49 states (excluding Nevada, prohibited by state law) and the District of Columbia. Reported information may include full name of the offender, classification of the offense and the offender's last known address. This search will also provide a photo of the offender when available. TalentShield will return the search results to the User and the User will be able to dispute the returned results. If the result is marked as Verified there were no reportable findings.
    • Multi-State Criminal Database Check: The Multi-State Criminal Database is a compilation of millions of criminal records from sources including Departments of Corrections, Administrative Offices of the Courts, and State and Counties (excluding California, Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, Maine and Massachusetts). TalentShield will return the results to the User and the User will be able to dispute their accuracy and validity. If the result is marked as Verified there were no reportable findings.

The absence of a TalentShield Certification for any piece of Profile Data does not mean that such information submitted by the User is false or inaccurate, and should not be construed against the User in a derogatory or unfavorable fashion. Rather, the absence of a Certification means ONLY that the User has not asked for such information to be verified or that the conditions set forth above for verification have not been met.

License to Use of the Site

TalentShield hereby grants You a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable right and license to access the Site for the purpose of (i) building a unique professional profile and submitting Profile Data for TalentShield Certification and the use of TalentShield services; or (ii) confirming the verifications for a TalentShield Certified User, where such User has directed the employer to the Site along with the User's access credentials to view the User's specific profile; or (iii) searching for qualified candidates for professional placement and other opportunities, but only if the User has directed TalentShield to make their professional profiles available to the general public for these Users. This grant is conditioned upon acceptance and adherence to the terms and conditions set forth in these Terms of Use. All other rights, title, and interests are reserved and retained by TalentShield and its licensors. Users understand and agree that the TalentShield Certification is granted only with respect to three types of Profile Data: a User's licensing credentials, employment history, educational record and criminal background. Although TalentShield takes commercially reasonable steps to authenticate those sources verifying Profile Data, TalentShield cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy of information provided by such sources. You understand that TalentShield assembles information from a variety of sources, and that these sources are not maintained by TalentShield and may be fallible. TalentShield can only guarantee that the information provided by such sources is accurately reflected on any User resume and profile.

ALL TALENTSHIELD SERVICES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, VERIFICATION SERVICES (INCLUDING THE USE OF THIRD-PARTY SOURCES TO VERIFY PROFILE DATA), THE RELEASE OF TALENTSHIELD CERTIFICATION DATA AND RESULTS TO EMPLOYERS, AND THE RELEASE OF TALENTSHIELD CERTIFIED DATA TO ANY THIRD PARTIES, IS DONE ONLY AT THE WRITTEN REQUEST, DIRECTION AND CONSENT OF THOSE USERS SUBMITTING THEIR OWN PROFILE DATA FOR CERTIFICATION. USERS SUBMITTING PROFILE DATA FOR TALENTSHIELD CERTIFICATION MAY WITHDRAW SUCH CONSENT AT ANY TIME AND HAVE THEIR PERSONAL PROFILES REMOVED FROM THE TALENTSHIELD SITE. PLEASE SEE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IF YOU WISH TO HAVE A PROFILE REMOVED.

Prohibited Use

TALENTSHIELD EXPRESSLY PROHIBITS EMPLOYERS FROM DIRECTING ANY PROSPECTIVE OR CURRENT EMPLOYEE FROM USING THE TALENTSHIELD SITE AS A PRE-CONDITION TO EMPLOYMENT OR A CONDITION OF MAINTAINING EMPLOYMENT. TALENTSHIELD AND THE LAWS OF SEVERAL STATES EXPRESSLY PROHIBIT AN EMPLOYER OR ENTITY FROM SHIFTING THE COST OF PERFORMING A BACKGROUND SEARCH OR VERIFICATION TO THE EMPLOYEE. AS SUCH, ANY EMPLOYER OR ENTITY THAT DIRECTS A CURRENT OR PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEE TO THE TALENTSHIELD SITE, EVEN IF THE FEES INCURRED BY THE USER CREATING THE PERSONAL PROFILE ARE TO BE REIMBURSED BY THE EMPLOYER, IS IN MATERIAL BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT AND TALENTSHIELD MAY DISCONTINUE ACCESS TO THE SITE OR SUSPEND OR TERMINATE, WITHOUT NOTICE OR LIABILITY.

The TalentShield Site may be used only for lawful purposes by individuals seeking employment and career information and employers or other organizations seeking employees or offering related career placement opportunities. TalentShield specifically prohibits any other use of the Site, and all Users agree not to do any of the following: (a) use the Site to sell or promote any products or services; (b) delete or revise any material posted by any other person or entity; (c) take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on the Site's infrastructure; (d) notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, use or attempt to use any engine, software, tool, agent, or other device or mechanism (including without limitation browsers, spiders, robots, avatars or intelligent agents) to navigate, monitor, copy or search the Site other than any search engine and/or search agents available from TalentShield on the TalentShield Site and other than generally available third party web browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari); (e) decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software comprising or in any way making up a part of the Site; (f) aggregate, copy or duplicate in any manner any of the content or information available on the Site, without express written consent from TalentShield; (g) frame or link to the Site or any Site content or information available from the Site, without express written consent from TalentShield; (h) access data not intended for such User or logging into a server or account which the User is not authorized to access; (i) attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of the TalentShield Site, system or network, or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (j) attempt to interfere with service to any User, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, "flooding", "spamming", "mailbombing" or "crashing"; or (k) forge any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting. Violations of system or network security may result in civil and/or criminal liability. TalentShield will investigate occurrences which may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting Users who are involved in such violations. TalentShield reserves the right to record Your IP address and verify information You provide on this Site to ensure you are complying with these terms and conditions.

Obligations of Users Creating Personal Profiles

Users who create a professional profile will receive a username and password to enter the Site and access TalentShield services. You shall not share or transfer your username and password to others and are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of Your password and account. You are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to immediately notify TalentShield of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security. TalentShield cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from Your failure to comply with this obligation. TalentShield in its sole discretion may terminate Your password and account for any reason, including, without limitation, if TalentShield believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms of Use. TalentShield shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Site. By submitting Profile Data and/or by using this Site for the purpose of obtaining TalentShield Certification, You indicate your understanding and agreement that:

  • You will only use the Site and the TalentShield Certification for personal use. Only one individual may access the Site using the same email or password, unless TalentShield agrees otherwise. You will not use the Site or the TalentShield Certification for any commercial purpose, absent the express prior written consent of TalentShield.
  • You agree only to request a verification of Profile Data about yourself and no other individual or entity. You certify that Profile Data consisting of personally identifiable information will be Yours and Yours alone and such Profile Data is true and correct to the best of Your knowledge. If You provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or TalentShield has reasonable grounds to suspect that such Profile Data is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, TalentShield has the right to omit such data and/or suspend or terminate Your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site and TalentShield services (or any portion thereof).
  • You understand that all Profile Data submitted, posted or displayed by You on or through the Site is the sole responsibility of the User from which such Profile Data originated. TalentShield claims no ownership or control over any Profile Data. You or a third party licensor, as applicable, retain all intellectual property rights to any Profile Data You submit, post or display on or through the Site and You are responsible for protecting those rights, as applicable. By submitting, posting or displaying Profile Data on or through the Site, You grant TalentShield a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Profile Data through the Site. In addition, by submitting, posting or displaying Profile Data which is intended to be available to the public, you grant TalentShield a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Profile Data for the purpose of promoting TalentShield services. TalentShield will discontinue this licensed use within a commercially reasonable period after such Profile Data is removed from the Site. You also represent and warrant that You have the right to grant or that the holder of any rights, including moral rights in such content, has completely and effectively waived all such rights and validly and irrevocably granted to You the right to grant the license stated above. TalentShield reserves the right to refuse to accept, post, display or transmit any Profile Data in its sole discretion.
  • TalentShield may remove any or all Profile Data that, in its sole judgment, violates these Terms of Use, violates applicable laws, rules or regulations, is abusive, disruptive, offensive or illegal, or violates the rights of any party. TalentShield may take any action with respect to Profile Data that it deems necessary or appropriate in its sole discretion if it believes that such Profile Data could create liability for TalentShield, damage TalentShield.s brand or public image, or cause TalentShield to lose (in whole or in part) the services of its ISPs or other suppliers.
  • The following is a partial list of Profile Data that is prohibited on the Site. The list below is for illustration only and is not a complete list of all prohibited Profile Data. Users shall not submit content that:
    • Is implicitly or explicitly offensive, such as content that engages in, endorses or promotes racism, bigotry, discrimination, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;
    • Harasses, incites harassment or advocates harassment of any group or individual;
    • Involves, promotes or endorses false or misleading information or illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;
    • Contains hyperlinks, "hidden" keywords or keywords that are irrelevant to the job or are otherwise misleading;
    • Displays or links to pornographic, indecent or sexually explicit material of any kind;
    • Solicits passwords or personal identifying information from other Users;
    • Involves, promotes or endorses an illegal or unauthorized copy of another person's copyrighted work.

Ownership of TalentShield Materials

You acknowledge and agree that, as between You and TalentShield, TalentShield owns, and shall continue to own, all proprietary right, title and interest (including, but not limited to, copyright, trademark, trade secret and patent) in and to the Site and all content provided by TalentShield on the Site, including without limitation, site design, text, graphics, and interfaces (collectively the "TalentShield Materials"). The compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement and assembly) of all content on the Site is the exclusive property of TalentShield and is protected by United States and foreign copyright, trademark, and other laws. TalentShield grants those Users who create person al profiles for TalentShield Certification a non-transferable and non-exclusive right and license to use the TalentShield Certification mark on the User's resume and only in connection with the provision of TalentShield verification services. With the exception of the rights granted under these Terms of Use, any use of TalentShield Materials including reproduction, modification, display, distribution, replication, sale, any form of data extraction or data mining or other commercial exploitation of any kind without the prior written permission of TalentShield is strictly prohibited. TalentShield and TalentShield Certification are trademarks owned by TalentShield. All trademarks, logos, service marks and trade names (collectively the "Trademarks") displayed on the Site or on content available through the Site are registered and unregistered Trademarks of ours and others and may not be used in violation of applicable rights. Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to use any Trademark displayed on the Site without the written permission of the applicable rights holder. You must retain all copyright, trademark, service mark and other proprietary notices contained in the original TalentShield Materials on any authorized copy You make of any TalentShield Materials. You agree not to sell or modify the TalentShield Materials or reproduce, display, publicly perform, distribute, or otherwise use the TalentShield Materials in connection with products or services that are not those of the TalentShield Site, in any other manner that is likely to cause confusion among consumers, that disparages or discredits TalentShield or its licensors, that dilutes the strength of TalentShield's or its licensor's property, or that otherwise infringes TalentShield's or its licensor's intellectual property rights. Any code that TalentShield creates to generate or display any TalentShield Materials or the pages making up the Site is also protected by TalentShield's copyright and you may not copy or adapt such code.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold TalentShield, its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective officers, employees and agents harmless from any and all actions, causes of action, claims, demands, costs, liabilities, expenses (including reasonable attorneys. fees) and damages arising out of or in connection with any claim made by any third party arising out of or related to i) Your use of the Site, including but not limited to, Your Profile Data or any information or material that You post to or transmit through the Site, ii) Your use of any Site content contained therein, iii), iv) Your, or another User using Your account and password, violation of these Terms of Use, or v) infringement by You or another User using Your account and password, of any intellectual property or any other right of any person or entity. TalentShield shall provide notice to You promptly of any such claim, suit or proceeding, and TalentShield reserves the right and shall have the option, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by You, and in such case, You agree to cooperate with TalentShield's defense of such claim.

Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

All of the information and materials contained on the Site, including text, graphics, information, links or other items are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation, any warranty for information, data, data processing services, uptime or uninterrupted access. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, TalentShield makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, regarding the use or the results of this Site or any of the services or information provided therein in terms of its availability, accuracy, adequacy, correctness, precision, timeliness, completeness, thoroughness, reliability or otherwise. No warranty of any kind, whether implied, expressed or statutory, including but not limited to the warranties of non-infringement of third party rights, title, non-infringement, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and freedom from defect, computer virus or other error, is given in conjunction with any of the information, materials or services provided by TalentShield.

TalentShield makes no warranty that the Site or the services thereon will meet Users' requirements. The TalentShield Certification is a tool to be used by Users to certify that certain Profile Data has been vetted by TalentShield to determine the accuracy of such data. TalentShield makes no guarantees and takes no position with respect to the job skills, quality of work, or the fitness for a particular position by any User. TalentShield expressly disclaims any such expressed or implied warranty, guarantee or representation. TalentShield does not make employment recommendations or decisions regarding any party.s use of the TalentShield Certification nor does it give any input on employment eligibility for such party. You understand that there may be applicable state or federal laws regulating the use or obtainment of information on this Site, including but not limited to, restrictions on employers requiring applicants to pay for a background check.

EXCEPT WITH REGARD TO THIRD PARTY DAMAGES COVERED UNDER THE INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS SET FORTH ABOVE, AND EXCEPT FOR ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BY LAW BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED, NEITHER TALENTSHIELD NOR ANY TALENTSHIELD SUBSIDIARY, SUCCESSOR, PREDECESSOR, PARENT, JOINT VENTURE, AFFILIATE, OFFICER, DIRECTOR, EMPLOYEE, CONTRACTOR, CONTENT SOURCE, LICENSOR OR LICENSEE SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER THIRD PARTY CLAIMING THROUGH YOU FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, STATUTORY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF, OR RELATING TO, THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE USE OF THE SITE, AND YOUR RIGHTS HEREUNDER, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, WHETHER FRAMED AS A BREACH OF WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, IN TORT, CONTRACT, FAILURE OF ESSENTIAL PURPOSE, OR OTHERWISE.

TALENTSHIELD, ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS, LICENSORS, SUPPLIERS, OR THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS OR EMPLOYEES, SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR DAMAGE OR LOSS OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE OR ANY CONTENT (INCLUDING PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND SOFTWARE) PROVIDED THEREIN, OR ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF ANY SITE LINKED HERETO AND/OR EVENTS BEYOND THE REASONABLE CONTROL OF TALENTSHIELD, INCLUDING VIRUSES, FAILED OR UNDELIVERED MESSAGES, THE CORRUPTION OF DATA, TRANSMISSION ERRORS, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS, LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES AND THIRD PARTY CONTENT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST OPPORTUNITIES, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, AGGRAVATED, ECONOMIC OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGE, EVEN IF TALENTSHIELD IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE OR LOSS OR OF A CLAIM BY ANOTHER PARTY.

TALENTSHIELD, ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS, LICENSORS, SUPPLIERS, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS AND EMPLOYEES. CUMULATIVE TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS THAT YOU MAY SUFFER FROM ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, GROSS NEGLIGENCE, OR OTHERWISE) SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT, IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO TALENTSHIELD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE TIME THAT THE DAMAGES OR LOSS FIRST OCCURRED. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT TALENTSHIELD.S PRICING REFLECTS THIS ALLOCATION OF RISK AND THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY SPECIFIED IN THIS AGREEMENT.

Links to Third-Party Sites

This Site may contain links to websites controlled or offered by third-parties (non-affiliates of TalentShield). You acknowledge that TalentShield is not responsible for the availability of, or the content located on or through any third-party website. TalentShield makes no representations about and disclaims liability for, any information, materials, products or services posted or offered at any third-party website linked to this Site. Links to third-party websites are provided solely for the convenience of the User. TalentShield does not endorse or recommend any products or services offered or information contained therein, nor is TalentShield liable for any failure of products or services offered or advertised at those websites. If You decide to access such linked third-party web sites, You do so at Your own risk. Your use of those third-party sites is subject to the terms of use and privacy policies of each such site, and TalentShield is not responsible for anything contained therein. You should contact the site administrator or webmaster for those third-party sites if You have any concerns regarding the content on those sites.

Termination

TalentShield may discontinue Your access to the Site or suspend or terminate, without notice or liability, Your account and/or Your access to and use of the Site, for any violation of these Terms of Use or for any other use that TalentShield, at its sole discretion, deems improper. In the event of such suspension or termination, You shall not be entitled to any refund or return of fees paid to TalentShield for access to the Site and/or TalentShield services.

General Terms

These Terms of Use shall be construed and controlled by the laws of the State of Washington, and You hereby consent to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the Superior Court of King County, Washington. In the event that federal subject matter jurisdiction exists and such matter lies within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts, You hereby agree to exclusive jurisdiction and venue in the federal courts sitting in King County, Washington. In any action to enforce any right or remedy under these Terms of Use or to interpret any provision thereof, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys. fees, costs, and other expenses.

If any provision of these Terms of Use shall be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect. The User and TalentShield intend that the provisions of these Terms of Use be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. Accordingly, You agree that if any provisions are deemed not enforceable, they shall be deemed modified to the extent necessary to make them enforceable. No waiver of any term of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term. In addition, TalentShield's failure to enforce any term of these Terms of Use shall not be deemed as a waiver of such term or otherwise affect TalentShield's ability to enforce such term at any point in the future.

Last Updated: 11/08/2011