Equifax settles Privacy Commission litigation: audit proceeds

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This article was published 16/03/2007 (6937 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA (CP) – The federal Privacy Commissioner has settled litigation with the Equifax credit reporting agency over the commission’s ongoing audit of the company’s protection of personal information.

Equifax has dropped a Federal Court action complaining that the commissioner’s office lacked reasonable grounds to conduct the audit of its online identification and authentication system.

“I am pleased that Equifax agreed to discontinue their court challenge because it is important for us to make use of all the tools at our disposal, including exercising our powers to audit personal information management practices in the private sector,” commissioner Jennifer Stoddart stated Friday.

“Ultimately, what we determine in our work can only be of benefit to the organizations involved and their customers.”

The commission said its audit continued during the court action and a report will be provided to the 600-employee Canadian division of Atlanta-headquartered Equifax Inc.

The Privacy Commissioner, mandated by Parliament to be an advocate and guardian of Canadians’ privacy and personal information, had launched its audit of Equifax in August 2006 under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

The commissioner has since published guidelines for businesses on identification and authentication.

The Equifax website gives businesses access to individual credit reports, including “in-depth information about your customers and prospects,” as well as allowing consumers to view their personal credit scores for a fee.