Credit Databases

The use of credit information in people searches

Most adults will have a credit file against their name. The file is created from the moment we seek credit from banks or finance houses. If you have never borrowed money you will not have a file.

People come off credit records as they enter old age. By then they will have paid off their mortgage and no longer using credit cards. Old people are not usually working and they are living off savings and any pension they may have.

Credit information is collected by financial institutions to enable them to decide whether a particular customer is a good risk for further loans. In other words, whether they be able to pay back the money leant to them.

Privacy and Data Protection:

A credit file will contain a lot of personal information such as:

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Addresses they are linked with
• Other names the subject is known by
• Any County Court Judgements
• Bankruptcies

A credit file is a private document that can only be accessed by people authorised to do so. The subject of the file can have a copy as it is their data. So can the financial institutions that the subject is doing business with. In the small print of the credit agreement you signed will be an agreement to give access to certain parties to the contents of your file.

As was mentioned above, the information is shared among financial institutions to examine the risk of further loans. It is also used to help locate people who not repaid their loan and moved away from their usual address.

Private investigators who have a Consumer Credit Licence under the Office of Fair Trading may make use of credit databases in the course of their work of tracing debtors. However it is not a tool that is appropriate for all purposes. Please see my previous article about the Data Protection Act at http://www.blood-ties.com/keepingontherightsideofthelaw.doc
Acceptable uses might include:

• Tracing debtors
• Finding beneficiaries
• For urgent medical reasons
• To prevent or solve crime

As the contents of a credit file are private, some protection has been created by the main Credit Reference Agencies by the marking of a ‘footprint’ on the file each time it is accessed. This means that the subject of the file can demand the reason for the search and a copy of any files held.

The use of credit files in the tracing of missing family and friends is rather out of their purpose. If I were to do it would be under the following conditions:

• I would use the ‘beneficiary locate’ rather than the ‘credit’ option
• I would not give my client any information from the file
• I would contact the subject directly and ask if they would be willing to receive contact from my client

You can read my Data Protection Policy at http://www.blood-ties.com/ethics.htm

Conclusion:

The truth of the matter is that there is still a huge demand for investigative services of one sort or another. The new laws for the protection of personal data and freedom of information will take a while to be adjusted to.

Breaches of the Data protection Act are being investigated and prosecuted by the Information Commissioners Office http://www.ico.gov.uk/ for a while it was just private investigators being brought to book, but now it also their clients as well. These have included law firms, businesses, individuals, insurance companies and finance companies as well.

The truth is that no one wants an old case coming back to bite you because it was not carried out in a legal fashion. So when you have an investigation to carry out it would be wise to choose a legal and ethical investigator that you can trust to get you the information you want within the law.