To the editor:

   (Plain Press April 2026) Most Americans believe that, after seven years, their financial “permanent record” is purged. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), this is true for late payments and bankruptcies- but it’s a myth for your career.

   Payroll data-miners like Equifax’s The Work Number maintain indefinite records of every job title, salary change, and home address you’ve ever had. While the law labels this information “neutral”, it is being used as a weapon by Artificial Intelligence (AI) screening tools and insurance underwriters to blacklist or penalize workers for employment gaps and old addresses from decades ago.

   Furthermore, an outdated “salary exception” in the FCRA allows background checkers to dig even deeper for negative information for any job paying over $75,000, robbing middle-class families- and those striving to join them- of a fresh start. There’s nothing “fair” about that.

   I have urged our Senators and Representatives to support a mandatory 10-year limit for all information, including payroll, residential and employment data and to eliminate any salary exceptions. I ask every interested citizen to do the same. Our digital past should not be a permanent barrier to our future. It’s time to modernize- and humanize- the FCRA.

Erik Ault

Cleveland, OH