All posts by Editor

Although 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have passed laws requiring consumer notification in the event of a security breach of personal information, recent large-scale and publicized breaches continue to make data security a top legislative agenda item in statehouses across the country. Of the 15 data breach proposals introduced by State legislators this year, two have been signed into law.

Experian Automotive today announced that average credit scores for consumers buying a vehicle have dropped to near prerecession levels. According to its quarterly automotive credit analysis, the average credit score for financing a new vehicle dropped six points to 760 and dropped four points to 659 for used vehicles. Comparatively, credit scores in Q1 of 2008 were at an average of 753 for new vehicles and 653 for used.

Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced that during National Small Business Week, May 20–26, it will offer BusinessIQ Express at half off its annual subscription price for the first year of service.

Experian®, the leading global information services company, today announced that it has joined forces with Moody’s Analytics to create a business index and detailed report that provides insight into the health of U.S. businesses.

Recently there has been one area of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reform that has gained support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, as well as the CFPB Director himself: ensuring the confidentiality of privileged information that financial institutions provide to the bureau.

Earlier this week, Experian launched BusinessIQ Express, a new online tool designed to help small businesses improve cash flow by helping them make more informed decisions about their business relationships. Learn how this new tool can help small businesses.

On March 26th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its highly anticipated final reports on consumer privacy, entitled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change." In their final report, the Commission applauded industry’s efforts towards strengthening industry self-regulations—including the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising—but called on industry to do more to protect consumer privacy.

Last month, the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI)—a coalition of more than 80 leading online marketing companies—released its 2011 annual report reviewing efforts in online advertising self-regulation. In the annual report, which is required by the NAI’s self-regulatory Code of Conduct for Online Behavioral Advertising (OBA), the NAI reviewed the practices of member companies with regards to the collection, use and disclosure of data for OBA purposes.

The Death Master File (DMF) is a database operated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) that contains over 87 million records with information on persons who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the SSA from 1962 to the present. The DMF is considered a public document under the Freedom of Information Act, and monthly and weekly updates of the file are made available through the Department of Commerce.