EQUIFAX ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY & FAIR INFORMATION PRINCIPLES
(U.S. Only)
For more than 100 years, Equifax has been a catalyst for commerce by bringing businesses and consumers together. Equifax also provides products and services that bring businesses together with other businesses. We have built our reputation on our commitment to deliver reliable information to our customers (both businesses and consumers) and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of personal information about consumers. We also protect the sensitive information about businesses. Safeguarding the privacy and security of information, both online and offline is a top priority for Equifax.
This privacy policy applies Equifax's commitment to privacy in an online setting. This privacy policy applies to the following Equifax U.S. web sites: www.equifax.com, www.econsumer.equifax.com, www.mycrediteducation.com, http://fact.econsumer.equifax.com and www.equifax.com/CoolOnCredit. This privacy policy applies to both individual consumers and certain business organizations that use these web sites.
We take reasonable steps to:
- Give you, as a visitor to these web sites, clear notice of:
- when we are requesting information from you;
- the types of information we request from you;
- the general purposes for which that information will be used or disclosed;
- the categories of users to whom we provide the information; and
- Offer you as an individual the ability to opt out of certain uses of the information we collect about you online;
- Maintain accurate records, provide you access to the personally identifiable information or business organization identifiable information that is retrievable online, or that is contained in your individual credit file or your business organization credit file, and provide you a fair procedure to update and correct such information; and
- Use safe and secure systems, including physical, administrative, and technical security procedures to safeguard the information about you.
There are a variety of activities that can be done on the Equifax web sites to which this privacy policy applies, such as obtain information about credit, credit reports, and related topics, request disclosure of your individual Equifax credit file and credit score, or become a Member of Personal Solutions and request Personal Solutions products for you as an individual or your business organization. In reviewing this privacy policy please keep in mind the activities that you are or will be doing.
When used in this privacy policy the terms below have the following meanings:
"You" means both individuals and business organizations unless otherwise indicated.
"You as an individual" means only an individual.
"You as a business organization" means only a business organization.
"Personally identifiable information" is information that we collect from you as an individual online to verify your identity and to process your requests as an individual. It may include information such as:
- First and last name (middle initial and suffix, as applicable);
- Social Security number;
- Date of birth;
- Gender;
- Home telephone number;
- E-mail address;
- Current and former mailing address;
- Credit card number and expiration date; and
- Driver’s license number, state of issue, and address on license.
"Business organization identifiable information" is information we collect from you as a business organization online to verify your identity and to process your requests as a business organization. It may include information such as:
- Name of the organization
- Tax ID number
- Date business started
- Business telephone and fax numbers
- E-mail address
- Current and former street and mailing addresses;
- Credit card number and expiration date;
- Names and information about the business organization owners and others connected with the business organization, such as shareholders, officers, and guarantors.
EQUIFAX FAIR INFORMATION PRINCIPLES
NOTICE - We provide information to you about:
CHOICE - You can make decisions about the information we collect:
ACCESS
SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
ACCOUNTABILITY
USE OF COOKIES TECHNOLOGY
CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
NON-APPLICABILITY OF PRIVACY POLICY TO COMMERCIAL USE
KEEPING UP-TO-DATE ON CHANGES TO THE EQUIFAX PRIVACY POLICY
HOW TO CONTACT US WITH QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
EQUIFAX FAIR INFORMATION PRINCIPLES
NOTICE - We provide information to you about:
The Information We Collect About You
This Equifax online privacy policy applies to all information we receive online from you and about you in connection with an online transaction or request. The information, if any, which we collect from or about you while you are accessing and using our web sites covered by this privacy policy depends on what you do while you on our web sites. If you do not: 1) register or fill out any forms at an Equifax web site, 2) request disclosure of your individual credit file or individual credit score, 3) file an online dispute reinvestigation request, or 4) become a Member of Personal Solutions or request a Personal Solutions product, then we do not collect any personally identifiable information or business organization identifiable information about you while you are accessing or using our web sites.
If you do: 1) register or fill out any forms at an Equifax web site, 2) request disclosure of your individual credit file or individual credit score, 3) file an online dispute reinvestigation request, or 4) become a Member of Personal Solutions or request a Personal Solutions product, then we do collect personally identifiable information or business organization identifiable information from you or about you online. However, in these situations we only collect certain information from you and about you to process your request and to verify your identity to be sure that we are assisting the proper individual or business organization.
Information From You
Specifically, we receive information from you online when you: 1) register or fill out any forms at an Equifax web site, 2) request disclosure of your individual credit file or individual credit score, 3) file an online dispute reinvestigation request, or 4) become a Member of Personal Solutions or request a Personal Solutions product. Becoming a Member of Personal Solutions enables you as an individual to purchase Personal Solutions products, such as Equifax Credit Report™; Score Power®; Equifax Credit Watch™; or 3-in-1 Credit Report, and you as a business organization to purchase Personal Solutions products, such as Equifax Business Credit Report™, or Equifax Business Credit Report With Score™. Additionally, when you as an individual do any of these things we will verify your identity by asking you to provide certain information that only you should know and we may ask you from two to six multiple-choice questions about "non-wallet-type" information contained in your individual credit file. The answers to these questions used to verify your identity as an individual are not provided to any nonaffiliated third party. When you as a business organization become a Member of Personal Solutions we may ask for information to verify your business organization.
We also receive information from you online when you send us e-mail, applications and other forms, or register at our web sites.
Information From Others
We may also collect information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others, such as the products and services you ordered. In connection with requests for Personal Solutions products, for example, we access your Equifax individual credit file information or your Equifax business organization credit file. In connection with verifying your identity as an individual we may also collect from outside sources personally identifiable information about you, such as name, address, driver’s license information, and e-mail addresses. When you request your free annual Equifax individual credit report through www.annualcreditreport.com, the information you provide at that web site is provided to us to process your request. Also, in connection with verifying the identity of you as a business organization we may collect from outside sources business organization identifiable information, such as name, address, and e-mail address.
How We Use The Information We Collect
We use the information we collect about you to handle the requests you make to us. If you as an individual request an individual credit file disclosure or an individual credit score disclosure, either directly from us or through www.annualcreditreport.com, or initiate an online dispute reinvestigation, the information we collect from you is only used to handle those requests and possibly update your Equifax individual credit file.
When you become a Member of Personal Solutions we also use the information we collect about you. Once you have become Member of Personal Solutions, we use the information when you ask Personal Solutions to provide you: 1) the Personal Solutions products and services you requested; 2) support for these Personal Solutions products and services; and 3) information about your Personal Solutions products.
Additionally, as legally permitted, we may use the information we collect for your Personal Solutions Membership and other requests, including postal address and/or e-mail address, to send you promotions for Personal Solutions products and services. (Of course, you may opt out of receiving such promotions. See the "CHOICE" section of this privacy policy.)
Information collected when you register at Equifax web sites other than the web sites to which this privacy policy applies (they are identified at the beginning of this privacy policy) is used for the purposes identified on those web site registration forms.
To Whom We May Disclose The Information We Collect
We may disclose any information collected from you or about you through the web sites to which this Privacy Policy applies as required by law or legal process.
We take reasonable precautions to be sure that nonaffiliated third parties and affiliates, to whom we disclose personally identifiable information or business organization identifiable information, as described below, are aware of our privacy policy and fair information principles and will treat the information in a similarly responsible manner. Our contracts and written agreement with nonaffiliated third parties that receive information from us about you as an individual, who has not opted out of this disclosure, prevent further transfer of the information.
When personally identifiable information or business identifiable information is collected when you register at an Equifax web site other than those covered by this privacy policy, the information will be disclosed, if at all, pursuant to the privacy policy for that web site.
Equifax is not, however, responsible for the privacy practices or content of link sites listed on our web pages. The owners of these pages are responsible for them.
In addition:
A. If you do not become a Member of Personal Solutions
When you as an individual request disclosure of your individual Equifax credit file or disclosure of your individual Equifax credit score without becoming a Member of Personal Solutions or when you as an individual initiate an online dispute reinvestigation request, we may disclose any of the information we collect from or about you, as described above, to affiliated companies, as well as non-affiliated third parties (companies that are not owned or controlled by us), such as a consumer credit reporting agency on the Equifax credit reporting system that owns the credit file, and the sources of disputed information, including credit grantors and public record vendors. The information provided to affiliates and non-affiliated third parties is disclosed only as required to process and fulfill these requests for you.
B. If you become a Member of Personal Solutions
When you become a Member of Personal Solutions and purchase products or services directly from Personal Solutions, we may disclose any of the information we collect from or about you, as described above, to the following types of non-affiliated third parties (companies that are not owned or controlled by us) for various business purposes, including marketing and joint business efforts for related and unrelated products and services, such as:
- Financial services providers, such as banks and mortgage lenders;
- Non-financial companies such as retailers, direct marketers, and publishers;
- Companies that perform marketing services on our behalf and other financial institutions with which we have joint marketing agreements; and
- Others, as permitted by law.
We may also disclose any of the information we collect, as described above, to affiliates, which are companies that are related to us by common ownership or affiliated with us by common control.
We may disclose any of the information, as described above, to the types of affiliates and non-affiliated third parties, described above, whether you as an individual or you as a business organization make a one-time purchase of a Personal Solutions product or you as an individual or you as a business organization have an ongoing or prior Member relationship with Personal Solutions.
CHOICE
Opting Out of Our Providing Information About You To Third Parties
If, in connection with your Membership with Personal Solutions or any online Personal Solutions product or service that you as an individual request or obtain, you as an individual prefer that we not disclose to non-affiliated third parties any personally identifiable information that we collect about you as an individual, you may choose to opt out of such disclosures; that is, you as an individual may direct us not to make these disclosures.
Opting Out at Our Personal Solutions Web Page
If you as an individual have become a Member of Personal Solutions or filled out forms at the Personal Solutions web page, you as an individual may exercise your right as an individual to opt out of our disclosing information to nonaffiliated third parties at the Personal Solutions web page after logging into the Member Center by checking "Yes" in the appropriate box on the Username web page where you select your Username and Secret Question. You as an individual may also exercise your rights to opt out any time you as an individual log into the Personal Solutions web page by accessing the Member Center - My Products page and click on the Opt Out Option on the navigation bar at the top of the page.
Opting Out of Our Personal Solutions Promotional Offers
As stated in the "Notice" section of this privacy policy, as legally permitted, Personal Solutions may send you promotional offers by e-mail. You may opt out of further promotional offers electronically by clicking on the "unsubscribe" button in the e-mail.
ACCESS
In accordance with applicable federal and state Fair Credit Reporting law you as and individual have access (sometimes at no cost) to your Equifax individual credit file either online, such as through www.annualcreditreport.com, or by requesting it by mail or telephone through Equifax. See: www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/sitepage.ehtml?forward=elearning_credit14 for more information. You as an individual can make a request online for reinvestigation of information in your Equifax individual credit file which you dispute.
If you have become a Member of Personal Solutions, you also have the ability to access to your Equifax Credit Report™, your Equifax Business Credit Report™ and other Personal Solutions products online. Additionally, if you have an ongoing subscription to Personal Solutions products, you may have access to all of your registration information that is available online.
SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Equifax recognizes the importance of secure online transactions, and we maintain physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect your personally identifiable information, your business organization identifiable information, and the other information we collect about you, as described above.
We safeguard the privacy of information you provide us through online forms. For online requests and Personal Solutions product orders and service requests, we use programs that encrypt the information you provide on the form before transmission to Equifax. Information you provide to us online, including personally identifiable information and business organization identifiable information, is transmitted to us through a secured socket layer (SSL) transmission. The information is decrypted only upon receipt by Equifax.
Except as stated in the "To Whom We Disclose The Information We Collect" section above, we restrict access to personally identifiable information and business organization identifiable information that is collected about you to only those who have a need to know that information in connection with the purposes for which it is collected and used.
Additionally, we have security protocols and measures in place to protect the personally identifiable information, business organization identifiable information and other information we maintain about you from unauthorized access or alteration. These measures include internal and external firewalls, physical security and technological security measures, and encryption of certain data.
You also have a role in protecting the security of information about you. For example, you should guard your password to the Personal Solutions Member Center and not permit unauthorized use of your account for Personal Solutions products. Additionally, you should close your browser when have finished viewing your information on the Equifax web site to protect the privacy of your individual or business organization information.
ACCOUNTABILITY
"Accountability" is generally recognized as an important component of "Fair Information Practices" and refers to the process that a company has in place to be sure it adheres to its privacy policy. It also means that a redress process exists to address privacy policy compliance questions.
Equifax is not, however, responsible for the privacy practices or content of link sites listed on our web pages. The owners of these pages are responsible for them.
If you have questions or comments about Equifax’s online privacy policy and fair information practices, please e-mail us at privacy@Equifax.com or write to Chief Privacy Officer, Equifax Inc., 1550 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. If you have specific questions about your Equifax individual credit file you may e-mail us at individual.custserv@Equifax.com. If you have specific questions about your Equifax business organization credit file you may go to the "Product Information Disclaimer" link located at the bottom of your business credit product page for contact information.
USE OF COOKIES TECHNOLOGY
What is a Cookie?
A cookie is a piece of text information that a web server may transfer to the hard drive of your computer through your web browser when you visit a web site. Cookies are commonly used on web sites to improve your experience and to enable systems to recognize your browser. Some cookies last only through a single visit (session cookie); other may have an expiration date; still others may remain on your computer until you delete them (persistent cookie). Only the information that you provide, or the choices you make while visiting a web site can be stored in a cookie. For example, the web site cannot determine your e-mail address unless you choose to type it.
How We Use Cookies:
We use session and persistent cookie technology for several purposes. For example, cookies:
- Allow you to order more than once during a visit without your having to re-enter your information each time you place an order for a Personal Solutions product;
- Allow us to gather aggregated statistical data about the use of our website for research purposes;
- Help us improve your navigation of our web site(s);
- Enable us to store your preferences for certain kinds of information and marketing offers;
- Help us to provide features such as personalized greetings;
- If you’re a Member of Personal Solutions, allow us to store your user name and encrypted customer identification number so that we recognize you when you return to our web site;
- Help us combat identity theft and fraud with more reliable identity verification and authentication data.
Our cookies only collect information during your online activity at our web sites to which this privacy policy applies, and not during any of your other Internet activity. Cookies set by us or our agents are not interpreted or shared with any other third party. We may combine cookie data with personally identifiable information or business organization identifiable information you provide to us (e.g., your e-mail address) so that you may receive marketing offers likely to be of interest to you. Of course, you may opt out of receiving these offers at any time by following the instructions in the marketing offer. We may sometimes use outside technology companies to set cookies on our web site and collect cookie information for us. We use the cookie information collected by these companies in the same manner as stated above in this section. Those companies may not use these cookies for their own internal purposes or share the information collected with any party other than Equifax.
How You Can Accept or Reject Cookies:
You can decide if and how your computer will accept a cookie by establishing your preferences in your web browser. Please understand that, if you choose to reject cookies, you may not be able to use certain of our online services or web site features. Internet Explorer is set up to allow the creation of cookies; however, you can specify that you be prompted before a web site puts a cookie on your hard disk, so you can choose to allow or disallow the cookie; or you can prevent Internet Explorer from accepting any cookies. You can specify different settings for different security zones. For example, you might want to allow web sites to create cookies if they are in your Trusted sites or Local intranet zone, prompt you before creating cookies if they are in your Internet zone and never allow cookies if they are in your Restricted sites zone.
CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
The Equifax web sites where we may collect personally identifiable information or business organization identifiable information in conjunction with a transaction involving: 1) registering or filling out any forms, 2) requesting disclosure of your Equifax individual credit file or Equifax individual credit score, 3) filing an online dispute reinvestigation request, or 4) becoming a Member of Personal Solutions or ordering a Personal Solutions product are intended for use only by adults. We comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act and do not knowingly solicit or collect information from children. Although our "Cool on Credit" web site has pages directed at children, no information at all is collected or requested from or about them.
NON-APPLICABILITY OF PRIVACY POLICY TO COMMERCIAL USE
This online privacy policy applies to individuals using the Equifax web sites identified at the beginning of this privacy policy to request the services and products provided through these web sites for personal, family or household purposes and to business organizations that obtain Personal Solutions products and services about their own business organization. Certain practices described and rights provided herein may not apply to business organization users that are not obtaining information about or services for their own business organization or individuals who use these web sites for commercial purposes.
KEEPING UP-TO-DATE ON OUR PRIVACY POLICY CHANGES
We want you to be fully informed about how we protect your privacy. We may change our privacy policy in the future, but we will not change our practices until they have been posted at this website. If changes occur, we will also show the date of revision. By using our web sites to which this privacy policy applies you agree that we may notify you of changes in our privacy policy through this web site.
HOW TO CONTACT US WITH QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
If you have questions or comments about Equifax’s online privacy policy and fair information practices, please e-mail us at privacy@Equifax.com or write to Chief Privacy Officer, Equifax Inc., 1550 Peachtree Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30309. If you have specific questions about your individual credit file you may e-mail us at individual.custserv@Equifax.com. If you have specific questions about your Equifax business organization credit file you may go to the "Product Information Disclaimer" link located at the bottom of your business credit product page for contact information.
Revised March 9, 2006.
