ARTICLE · 02 JULY 2004

Fair Credit Reporting Act Amendments: Affiliate Sharing

Reed Smith

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The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 adds a new Section 624 to the Fair Credit Reporting Act which limits the ability of affiliated companies to use shared consumer data for marketing purposes

United StatesConsumer Protection

Barbara Mishkin

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The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 ("FACTA") adds a new Section 624 to the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") which limits the ability of affiliated companies to use shared consumer data for marketing purposes.

Pre-FACTA Affiliate Sharing

By way of background, the FCRA as originally enacted permitted any company to share with any third party, information relating solely to that company’s first-hand experience with the consumer. By providing that such information did not constitute a "consumer report," a company could share its transaction or experience information with third parties without the risk of being treated as a "consumer reporting agency" under the FCRA by virtue of such sharing.

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