Financial Privacy for Free? US Consumers' Response to FACTA

In December 2004 the three US credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion complied with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) and started providing free copies of their credit reports to any consumers who requested it. The FACTA initiative was overseen by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and was significant in many respects: it was one of the first and largest initiatives by the federal government aiming at alleviating the rising concerns with identity theft; it forced – an unusual move in the laissez faire panorama of US privacy legislation private sector companies to offer some of their products and services for free to the general public; and it required an uncommon concerted effort by the three credit agencies to provide reports to an estimated potential pool of 220 million US adults. However, to date, no data about the public response to the initiative has been provided by the FTC or the reporting agencies themselves. We present the results of a [institution name’s removed] and Harris Interactive survey-based study of US consumers’ response to FACTA. The survey was based on a nationally representative sample of US adults and provides the first look at the success of the initiative as well as the likely motivations for requesting one’s credit report. Such information can help us understand consumers’ interest in their financial information and, indirectly, their sensitivity towards the privacy of their financial data.