- What is Equifax?
- Equifax is one of the three oldest and largest consumer credit reporting agencies in the United States. The other two are Experian and TransUnion. Credit Reporting Agencies collect data on consumers and create credit worthiness reports that business-service-providers use to determine the risk in extending credit to a consumer. If an individual applies for a loan or a credit card, the business-service-provider will often obtain a report from a credit bureau (or multiple) as part of its decision process.
- What kinds of information does Equifax collect?
- Equifax collects demographic information (age, gender, race, income, marital status, employment status, nationality and political preferences), personal information (date of birth, family member names, Social Security Numbers, Driver’s License information), and financial information (your banking, loan, and credit information). They use the demographic and personal information to reduce the likelihood that information is incorrectly reported on your credit report, and they use the financial and employment to assign a Credit Score that business-service-providers use in their decision making process.
- Am I affected by the breach?
- Equifax announced that the July 2017 data-breach encompassed over 143 million U.S. consumers, which is a large portion of working age adults in the United States. Chances are high that your information was part of the breach. To verify if you are part of the breach, Equifax has created the following site to see if your information was included.
https://www.equifaxsecurity2017.com/