Fama social media check cost you a job?

Who Fama Technologies is and who relies on its reports

Fama Technologies, Inc. is a social media and online screening company based in Los Angeles. Employers use it to review job candidates’ public online activity before hiring, and Fama also offers ongoing screening of current employees. Its website says its system looks for categories of workplace-relevant misconduct, such as harassment, hate speech and threats of violence, across many languages. In an October 2026 press release, Fama said it had served about 3,600 employers, executive search firms and influencer agencies.

In April 2023, Fama announced that it had acquired Social Intelligence, a social media screening company. The CFPB’s list of consumer reporting companies now lists Fama Technologies under employment screening, describes its social media screening for employers, and notes that Social Intelligence has been acquired by Fama. The listing gives a Santa Barbara, California mailing address for consumer requests.

The FTC’s view of social media screening

Before the acquisition, the FTC investigated Social Intelligence’s compliance with the FCRA. In a May 9, 2011 letter closing that investigation, FTC staff wrote that Social Intelligence was a consumer reporting agency because it assembled or evaluated information that employers used to decide whether someone was eligible for a job. The letter said the FCRA’s duties apply “equally in the social networking context,” including taking reasonable steps to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of information reported from social networking sites.

The FTC closed that investigation without further action. Its letter said the closing was not to be read as a determination that no violation occurred, just as the investigation itself was not a determination that one had. What matters for you is the principle: a social media screening report used for hiring is a consumer report, and the company that prepares it has to follow the FCRA.

Errors that show up on social media screening reports

Social media screening raises its own accuracy problems:

• Wrong-person accounts. Profiles or posts from someone with the same or a similar name get matched to you.
• Missing context. Sarcasm, song lyrics, quotes, news articles or posts criticizing bad behavior get flagged as if they were endorsements of it.
• Reposts and tags. Content someone else wrote, or a photo you were tagged in, reported as your own conduct.
• Old items. Adverse items far in the past reported years later, even though the FCRA generally limits reporting of most adverse non-conviction information to seven years.
• Dispute failures. A dispute that gets a form response instead of a real review of the flagged content.

How to dispute Fama Technologies

1. Get your report. Fama’s privacy policy says to email [email protected] to see a copy of your Fama report, if one was created on behalf of a Fama customer. If an employer sent you a pre-adverse action notice, keep the copy of the report it included.
2. Send your dispute in writing. Fama’s privacy policy says you can challenge the accuracy of a Fama report at any time by emailing [email protected]. You can also write to the mailing address on Fama’s CFPB listing: Fama Technologies, 735 State Street, Suite 211, Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
3. Identify each flagged item. List each account, post or image you dispute and say why it is wrong: not your account, missing context, someone else’s content, or too old.
4. Attach proof. Screenshots showing the full post or thread, proof of which accounts are yours, and your ID.
5. Tell the employer. Let the employer know you have disputed and ask it to wait for the result before making a final decision.
6. Keep copies. Save the report, the employer’s notices, your dispute email and every reply.
7. Watch the deadline. A consumer reporting agency generally must finish its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute and send you written results within five business days after it finishes (15 U.S.C. § 1681i).

How to contact Fama Technologies

• Report copies and disputes (email): [email protected], per Fama’s privacy policy
• Consumer phone: 888-748-3281, per Fama’s CFPB listing
• Mailing address for requests and disputes: Fama Technologies, 735 State Street, Suite 211, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, per Fama’s CFPB listing

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). Fama must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. Matching an account to you on name alone, or reporting a post without the context that changes its meaning, can fall short.
• Public records for employment (§ 1681k). When reporting public-record information for employment that is likely to hurt you, a consumer reporting agency must either notify you at the time or maintain strict procedures to keep that information complete and up to date.
• Disclosure and authorization (§ 1681b(b)(2)). An employer generally must give you a clear, standalone disclosure and get your written permission before ordering the report.
• Pre-adverse action notice (§ 1681b(b)(3)). Before acting on the report, the employer generally must give you a copy and a summary of your rights.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). Fama must reasonably reinvestigate your dispute free of charge and correct or delete anything inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
• Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Most adverse information other than criminal convictions generally cannot be reported after seven years, with exceptions such as some jobs paying $75,000 or more a year.
• Your file (§ 1681g). You have the right to see the information in your file and learn who received your report for employment in the past two years.

Can you sue Fama Technologies?

You may be able to sue if Fama reported inaccurate information about you because it did not use reasonable procedures, reported information it should not have, or failed to reasonably reinvestigate a dispute, and the report caused you harm, such as a lost job offer.

• Negligent violations (15 U.S.C. § 1681o): actual damages, such as lost wages and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs.
• Willful violations (§ 1681n): actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs.
• Deadline (§ 1681p): generally two years after you discover the violation, and no later than five years after it happened.

The only regulator action we found involving the business is the FTC’s 2011 closing letter to Social Intelligence described above, which closed the investigation with no further action and no finding of a violation. The employer that ordered the report may have its own obligations, such as the disclosure and pre-adverse action rules.

FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency. No fee unless we win.

Get a free case review

FCRA claims expire, so act quickly. If a Fama report cost you a job or a promotion, save the report, the employer’s notices and your dispute, and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel.

Questions about suing Fama Technologies

Can I sue Fama Technologies?

Yes, if the facts support it. When Fama assembles reports about candidates' online activity for employers to use in hiring, it acts as a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. The FTC took that position in 2011 about Social Intelligence, the social media screening company Fama acquired in 2023. You may have a claim if a report was inaccurate because of unreasonable procedures, or if Fama failed to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute.

Is Fama the same company as Social Intelligence?

Fama announced in April 2023 that it had acquired Social Intelligence, a social media screening company. The CFPB's list of consumer reporting companies now lists Fama Technologies and notes that Social Intelligence has been acquired by Fama. If your report came from Social Intelligence or socialintel.com, Fama is the company to contact.

How do I get a copy of my Fama report?

Fama's privacy policy says to email [email protected] to see a copy of your report if one was created for a Fama customer. The CFPB listing also gives a phone number, 888-748-3281, and a mailing address in Santa Barbara, California. If an employer sent you a pre-adverse action notice, it should include a copy of the report.

What does it cost to bring a case?

Nothing out of pocket. FCRA Attorneys works on contingency, with no fee unless we win, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Related reading

• Got a Pre-Adverse Action Notice? What It Means and What to Do Next
• Background Check Dispute Letter: What to Write, What to Attach
• 7 Types of Background Check Errors, and How to Prove Each One
• Can Someone Run a Background Check Without Your Consent?

Sources

• CFPB consumer reporting companies list: Fama Technologies (employment screening; social media screening for employers; Social Intelligence acquired by Fama; phone and Santa Barbara address)
• Fama press release: Fama Acquires Social Intelligence (April 18, 2023; Fama headquartered in Los Angeles)
• Fama press release via PR Newswire: Introducing Fama Lens: Policy-Based Screening (Los Angeles, October 20, 2026)
• Fama privacy policy (report copies and accuracy challenges by email to [email protected])
• Fama homepage (pre-employment and ongoing employee social media screening)
• FTC closing letter to counsel for Social Intelligence Corporation (May 9, 2011)

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.