Consumer credit reporting bureau TransUnion LLC, Chicago, said yesterday it would appeal a decision, also announced yesterday, by the Federal Trade Commission that bars the company from selling certain consumer lists to direct marketers.
TransUnion said it will appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals, saying that the information it sells to marketers does not contain actual credit data.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act prohibits the major credit bureaus from selling certain information to marketers, unless it is for one of the purposes permitted under the FCRA. The law allows the release of credit information, which TransUnion acquires from a variety of financial sources, for such purposes as the extension of credit or applications for employment or insurance. It does not allow certain information to be sold for target marketing, however.
The FTC determined that the information provided by TransUnion in its lists – including the fact that a consumer has a relationship with a creditor and the consumer’s age – is the type of information that can be used for establishing eligibility for credit, and therefore cannot be sold for marketing purposes by a credit bureau.
