AI is everywhere in hiring right now, but is it being used responsibly?
At Certn, we’re not just rethinking background checks, we’re redefining what trust looks like in a digital-first world. We believe that speed and trust can go hand-in-hand, if you build AI the right way. This means we use AI to make some screening faster, easier, and more secure; it’s how we’re able to deliver the results our clients rave about in reviews on G2.com.
How does AI actually work in background checks? We use AI and automation to make background screening faster, more accurate, and more secure, but we never let AI make hiring decisions.
In this blog post, I take you inside our transparent approach to managing AI, how we build AI-enabled background screening responsibly, and what every HR leader should be thinking about when plugging AI into their hiring process. Because when it comes to trust, you deserve more than buzzwords.
I cover:
- How we ensure our AI is compliant, transparent, and human-first
- Where Certn uses AI in the screening process
- What we don’t do (like scoring candidates)
Responsible AI in Action: What It Looks Like at Certn
We don’t just build technology. We audit, test, and improve it, constantly.
Here’s what that looks like:
- Live model monitoring and KPI tracking
- QA review of sessions across countries, documents, and clients
- Flagging errors early, fixing them fast
- Shadow testing before changes go live
Every decision is traceable. Every model is accountable.
How Certn Uses AI to Power Smarter Background Checks
At Certn, we’re not just digitizing background checks, we’re reinventing them.
As a technology company at the forefront of trust and identity, we use AI and automation to make background screening faster, more accurate, and more transparent, without compromising fairness or compliance. We don’t use AI to make any sort of decisions. Regardless of how a background check is processed, decisions are left to the discretion of the client.
Here’s more on how we actually use AI in the background check process.
What AI Does in Certn’s Products:
- Identity Verification in Seconds – Our OneID identity verification service, which instantly verifies an applicant’s or candidate’s identity using document analysis and facial biometrics, uses AI. AI helps detect irregularities and match IDs with real-time selfies while accounting for image variations like lighting, device quality, and background noise. You can read more in: Biometric Identity Verification: Understanding Passive Liveness.
- Document Recognition & Data Extraction – We also use machine learning in ID verification to extract data from ID documents with greater speed and accuracy, reducing manual review time and possible human error.
- AI Agents & AI Verifications – AI agents automate repetitive manual steps (like form-filling, data lookups, and ID cross-checks) so candidates can move through the employment and education verification process more quickly, with fewer delays or errors. AI-powered verifications validate candidate information, from employment history to credentials.
- Smart Reference Checks – In select workflows, Certn also uses AI to help collect reference feedback. This isn’t decision making AI, it’s clarity-at-scale AI. Our models assist with summarization and consistency, not judgment.
- Social Media Screening – Social media screening isn’t permitted in every jurisdiction, so it’s important to check before using it. Where permitted, AI retrieves and aggregates public information from social media platforms and other online sources. The summarized findings are put into a report for consideration by the decision maker.
Does Certn use AI to decide who gets hired? No. We build AI to support people, not replace them.
As you can see, we use AI in our products to enhance data collection and synthesis, not to make subjective decisions or judgments about people. This distinction is critical and non-negotiable.
… We don’t use AI to:
- Make Hiring Decisions – We provide verified, structured data, but decisions are always made by our clients, real people. AI supports the process, it doesn’t replace human judgment.
- Score or Rank Candidates – We don’t use AI to assign “pass/fail” outcomes or score candidates based on predictive assumptions. We support fair, transparent, post-offer screening, not opaque filtering.
- Introduce Cultural or Demographic Bias – We don’t feed identity-based features (like race, gender, or age) into our models.
Every AI feature we build is reviewed by our legal and compliance teams, tested against clear performance metrics, and monitored in production. If something’s off, we catch it fast, and fix it. Why? Because we’re not in the business of shortcuts. We’re in the business of earning trust at scale.
You can also be assured that we don’t use company data to train AI models; only anonymized data is used for training purposes.
Your Data, Your Rules
We handle data with the same care you give your candidates.
Your candidate data is:
- Encrypted and stored securely with AWS (S3 buckets)
- Retained only as long as necessary to provide the services
- Permanently deleted upon request
- Stored regionally to meet global privacy laws (like GDPR)
- Only accessible by authorized, logged personnel
FAQs: What HR & Legal Teams Ask Us Most
Q: How do you inform users that AI is being used?
Our Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and disclose information.
Q: Is my data safe?
Yes. We encrypt everything and monitor all access. Certn is proudly SOC 2-, SOC 3-, and ISO 27001-certified, delivering the highest standards of security, privacy, and trust for every background check we run. Security is non-negotiable.
Q: Is Certn considered a private and confidential service?
Yes. We reduce the risk of brute-force attacks by offering single sign-on (SSO) to have centralized authentication, applying rate limiting on login attempts, and enforcing strong password requirements. These measures help us stay aligned with ISO 27001 standard, even in cases where multi-factor authentication (MFA) isn’t in place.
Q: Where is your data stored? How does Certn handle data domiciling and ensure compliance with regional data storage laws?
Certn’s infrastructure is designed to provide transparent, compliant, and secure data handling, giving you confidence that your information is managed in accordance with relevant regulations.
Certn stores data using Amazon Web Services (AWS) in S3 buckets, which provide robust security and high availability. Certn supports regional data storage, allowing data to be contained and processed within specific geographic jurisdictions. This approach aligns with the practice of data domiciling, which refers to storing data within a particular region or country. Data domiciling is essential for organizations subject to local or international data protection laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By enabling regional storage, Certn helps clients meet these legal requirements and reduces the risk of non-compliance or unauthorized data transfers.
Q: Is the data stored permanently or temporarily?
We retain data for so long as it’s necessary to deliver the services for up to a maximum of three years. Upon client’s request or after the expiry of the retention period, we’ll delete and use all reasonable efforts to procure the deletion of all other copies of end-user personal data processed by us or any of our sub-processors. Once deleted, the data cannot be restored. We destroy all data in line with regional regulatory requirements.
Q: Can candidates contest an outcome?
Yes. Our platform and Customer Support team make that easy and transparent.
Q: Do you store identity information permanently?
No. We’re an ID verification service, not an ID storage company.
Bringing It All Together
From the start, we’ve shared how Certn is reimagining background checks, not just by using AI, but by using it responsibly. We’ve walked through how bias shows up, how we mitigate it, and how our tools empower HR teams without replacing human judgment.
So where does that leave you, the employer, recruiter, or builder of better hiring practices?
It leaves you with a choice.
A choice to adopt AI not because it’s trendy, but because it’s trustworthy. A choice to demand more than speed, to demand structure, fairness, and clarity. A choice to work with partners who care not just about what’s possible, but what’s right.
That’s why we believe the future of hiring doesn’t start with AI. It starts with structure.
Final Thought: Structure Before Scale
We’re not just a background check company. We’re a technology company redefining trust.
If you’re looking to plug AI into more of your hiring process besides background checks, make sure your basics are strong first. As VidCruiter’s Zack Cormier said on our What the FTE? podcast: “Most companies are trying to layer on AI before they’ve even mastered the fundamentals.”
Want AI to improve your hiring? Start here, with the fundamentals:
✅ Build structured interview guides – Consistency is king. Clear rubrics and job-relevant questions reduce bias and improve candidate experience.
✅ Train your interviewers, not just your recruiters – Hiring isn’t just TA’s job. Give managers the tools to assess fairly, ask better questions, and represent your brand well.
✅ Audit your hiring process regularly – Use candidate feedback and data to find bottlenecks, improve clarity, and spot where tech helps (or hurts) the flow.
✅ Define what “good” looks like before you screen – Whether it’s values alignment or core competencies, get aligned on success criteria before a single résumé hits the inbox.
✅ Let AI support humans, not replace them – Use automation to streamline, not sideline. Let tech handle the busywork so people can focus on judgment calls.
✅ Never automate what you haven’t optimized manually – If the process is broken, AI will only scale the mess. Get your foundations right first.
In the age of AI, structure is your superpower. Speed matters. So does fairness. Build the scaffolding first, and let smart tools amplify the best of your hiring team.
