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Employee Background Screening Is Now Business-Critical, Acxiom® Executive Tells NRF Panel

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – June 8, 2006 – With the rapid change in pace in employee-hiring procedures as well as the expansion of government regulation in business, employee background screening is now a critical element in the success of any enterprise, said Mike Cool, business unit leader for Acxiom® Information Security Services, a part of Acxiom Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM).

“While it was always important for companies to conduct employee background checks and do so in a proper manner, it has now become imperative,” Cool told a panel of the National Retail Federation’s Loss Prevention Conference. “With such government regulation as the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equal Employment Opportunity and Sarbanes-Oxley, companies need a consistent, high-quality background screening program as part of an effective, legally defensible employee hiring policy.

“The right program begins with a real-world analysis of a company’s needs, including volume of hires, domestic and international locations, legal defensibility, connectivity, ease of administration and accuracy, followed by an in-depth review of the capabilities of different providers.”

Cool, who has been a leader in the industry for nearly 10 years, also emphasized the importance of real-time screening as opposed to database search methodologies. "Without exception, real-time record searches aid in achieving the most consistent, legally defensible background screening program attainable,” Cool said.  “Although there is value to using database checks in a supplementary capacity, industry standards obligate employers to recognize the distinct differences in information quality."

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