Who Can Access My Equifax Credit Report? | Equifax Canada (2024)

FAQs

Who Can Access My Equifax Credit Report? | Equifax Canada? ›

Your neighbors, friends, co-workers or family members cannot access your Equifax credit report unless you authorize it. Some examples of those who can access your credit report are: Credit grantors, when you apply for credit. Collection agencies, when they need it to collect a debt.

The short answer is no — a car salesman or soon-to-be-ex-spouse can't get a copy of your credit report without permission, and that's due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Who Can Check Your Credit Without Permission? Government agencies may check your credit report to process an application for a license, to determine if you qualify for public assistance, or to calculate what a person can pay in child support, among other reasons.

Your credit report can be securely accessed by a company if they need information about you – for example, when you request to set up mobile phone contract, apply for a mortgage, or get a loan.

Lenders and creditors may use information in your Equifax credit report to help them make lending decisions. "Permissible purpose" allows certain companies and employers to access your Equifax credit report for certain purposes.

When you request a copy of your credit report, you will see a list of anyone who has requested your credit report within the past year, including any employers or prospective employers who have requested your report within the past two years for employment purposes.

A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report. If you suspect your personal information or identity was stolen, placing a credit freeze can help protect you from fraud.

Under the law, credit bureaus and other CRAs can release your information only to those third parties that have certified that they have a purpose permitted by the law to obtain your consumer report, such as to evaluate your application for credit, insurance, or employment, or to rent you an apartment.

It allows credit reporting agencies to provide credit information to people or entities with a “valid reason.” Being married to someone does not qualify as a “valid reason” under this act. If you access your spouse's credit report without their permission, it could be considered a form of identity theft or fraud.

Naturally, this is a powerful piece of evidence, but it is illegal for you to request a copy of your spouse's credit report. In order to legally request someone else's consumer credit reports, you need what is called a permissible purpose to do so.

Can someone run your credit report without you knowing about it explain? ›

Soft inquiries happen all the time without you even knowing—a company might check your credit score if they're planning on mailing you a promotional offer. These inquiries don't affect your credit score at all. But hard inquiries require your actual consent before they can happen.

Members of the Equifax credit data sharing arrangement

These organisations are typically banks, building societies, and other lenders, as well as other credit providers like utilities companies and mobile phone providers.

We collect personal data from companies that offer financial products or services to consumers, like loans, financial or investment advice, or insurance. This includes banks, mortgage lenders, loan brokers, some financial or investment advisors, insurance companies, and debt collectors.

Shopping at Equifax is safe

The encryption uses the industry standard SSL (Secure Socket Layer) protocol to protect transactions from your browser to our Web servers. This secure e-commerce protocol ensures that any information from your name to your credit card number has not been read or altered in any way en-route.

Accessing a spouse's credit report without permission or a valid reason is considered fraud or identity theft. If you need a copy of your spouse's credit report, always ask for their permission first or ask them to obtain it and share it with you.

A person/business cannot check your credit information without having a legitimate need. Credits must notify consumers if they deny credit based on a credit report file and they must tell which of the 3 bureaus provided the report.

However, it's important to note that friends, neighbors, and teachers generally do not have access to your credit report unless you give them explicit permission or share it with them.