In Ireland, where Experian is incorporated, the Consumer Protection Act makes it illegal for companies to make a false or misleading claim about products, services, and prices.Īkin to the report excerpts from Equifax and TransUnion, excerpts from Experian’s latest annual report for 2022 are also included below.Įquifax describes valuing its datasets at hundreds of millions of dollars, further expanding its data brokerage activities into other countries, and using machine learning and other techniques to conduct analysis on its datasets that include healthcare, employment, and other information. Instead, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange are required to publish an annual financial report “not later than four months after the end of its financial year.” Under Section 401 of the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act, it is also a criminal offense for a covered company to knowingly or recklessly make false or misleading statements-or knowingly or recklessly create false or misleading impressions. It is therefore not subject to the same regulatory requirements as Equifax and TransUnion. As the SEC puts it, “a person who is found to have knowingly and willfully submitted false, fictitious, and/or fraudulent statements to the SEC may be subject to criminal sanctions under federal law.”įor informational purposes, excerpts from Equifax and TransUnion’s recent SEC filings pertaining to their data brokerage activities are highlighted below.Įxperian is based in Ireland and listed on the London Stock Exchange. ![]() Importantly, companies submitting SEC filings must make those filings truthful to the best of their knowledge. These SEC reports hold some information about Equifax and TransUnion’s data brokerage practices. ![]() Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). ![]() It claims that some of this information, like its service “The Work Number” that monetizes workers’ data, is segmented from its other datasets.Įquifax and TransUnion are publicly traded, U.S.-incorporated companies, which means they must file regular reports with the U.S. They are also data brokers as some of them sell other information, too: Equifax, for example, advertises data related to individuals’ automobile use, restaurant activity, insurance plans, travel and leisure preferences, and more. They are data brokers in the basic sense that they broker access to information, such as information on someone’s credit card payments. The FCRA gives individuals the right to see their own credit report and requires companies to investigate cases where individuals dispute the accuracy of information about them, among others.īut the credit reporting agencies are also data brokers. These companies are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.Īs credit reporting agencies, they are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a piece of legislation that governs credit bureaus, tenant screening services, and other consumer reporting agencies. The United States has three primary credit reporting agencies, which provide information on individuals’ bill payment history, loans, and other financial activity to prospective lenders, banks, and other institutions. So, you may want to make sure you’re able to unlock your reports using your phone.Credit Reporting Agencies Don’t Just Report Credit Scores Justin Sherman You’ll be at a department store, maybe about to purchase something expensive, when you try to apply for a new credit card (to get some amazing cashback deal), and your application will be rejected. I guarantee that you’ll forget that you locked your reports and that you’ll need to unlock them at some point. If you apply for a credit card, loan, or many other types of financial services, your application will be rejected unless you unlock or unfreeze your report at the specific credit agency they are using. Rather than paying for credit monitoring services, I recommend these tips that you can do for free. Some Tipsįor best security, you should lock or freeze your report on all three credit agencies.īe sure to keep your logins in a secure place so you can unlock or unfreeze your reports when you need to. Do a freeze because it’s free and locks are not! There is no two-factor authentication on this site, so use a good password. In general, I don’t recommend paying for these services. Just use the free freeze!Įxperian also has a paid IDnotify service, which starts at $9.99 per month unless you got it for free (some companies offered free memberships to appease their data breach victims). Locking requires a paid plan (called Experian CreditLock). The website tries hard to upsell you on the landing page. Just be careful not to sign up for any paid plans. ![]() Do a credit freeze at Experian for free here: Experian used to have a really convoluted set of separate sites for freezing, unfreezing, locking, etc.
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