Privacy fact sheet 30
How the personal information in your credit report can be used
May 2014
Credit reporting ‘know your rights’ series no. 5
This fact sheet is the fifth in a series that outlines what you need to know about how your personal
information can be handled in the Australian consumer credit reporting system. It contains information
about how the personal information included in your consumer credit report can be used. There are lots of
technical terms used in the credit reporting system and we refer to some of those terms in this series. You
can find more information about these terms in no. 2 (Privacy fact sheet 27) of this series.
Are there restrictions on how the
information in your credit report can be
used?
Yes, the credit reporting laws place restrictions on how
the personal information in your consumer credit
report can be used.
A CRB should generally only handle that information
for the purpose of providing another entity with
information about your consumer creditworthiness
(which includes your eligibility to be provided with
credit).
Credit scores
One example, is where a CRB uses personal
information included in your consumer credit report to
create a credit score. A credit score is a number that
indicates the CRB’s assessment of your level of
consumer creditworthiness, including your eligibility to
be provided with credit.
Importantly, a CRB must not use personal information
that is not permitted to be included in your consumer
credit report to produce a credit score (or otherwise
assess your consumer creditworthiness).
A credit provider may also create its own credit score
about you, using information in your consumer credit
report and other personal information it holds.
However, a credit provider cannot give this score to a
CRB.
For more information about how to access your
consumer credit report and your credit score see no. 6
(Privacy fact sheet 31) in this series.
How can a credit provider use the
personal information contained in your
credit report?
A credit provider may use your consumer credit report:
•
to assess an application for consumer or
commercial credit made by you to that credit
provider (this includes an application to defer
payment for goods or services).
•
to collect any overdue payments that relate to
consumer or commercial credit provided by the
credit provider to you (this includes overdue
payments for goods or service provided to you on
credit).
•
for the internal management of credit, but only
where the use is for a purpose that is directly
related to the provision or management of
consumer or commercial credit by the provider.
For example, this enables the credit provider to:
o
produce its own assessment of your
consumer creditworthiness (importantly, a
credit provider cannot provide this
assessment to a CRB for inclusion in your
consumer credit report)
o
manage its relationship with you, or
Privacy fact sheet 30: How the personal information in your credit report can be used
o
manage its business as a whole (for
example, managing the business’ overall
level of risk exposure).
•
to assess whether to accept you as a guarantor in
relation to an application for credit made by
another person to that credit provider (or credit
provided to another person by the provider).
•
to assist you to avoid defaulting on your
obligations in relation to a current credit account
that you have with that credit provider.
How can other persons or organisations
use the information contained in your
credit report?
Mortgage or trade insurers
A mortgage or trade insurer can use your consumer
credit report (or the personal information contained in
that report):
•
to assess the risks associated with providing
insurance to a credit provider where that credit
provider has provided you with credit (or where
you have applied to that provider for credit), or
•
for any purpose arising under a contract for
mortgage insurance between the credit provider
and the insurer.
make the purchase, or to exercise its rights under the
purchase arrangement.
Is your consent required before a credit
provider can use the information in your
credit report?
No, generally your consent will not be required.
However, you must expressly consent to the disclosure
of your consumer credit report when it is sought in
relation to an application for commercial credit.
How will you know if your credit report
was a factor in a credit provider’s decision
to refuse your application for credit?
If within 90 days of obtaining a copy of your consumer
credit report, a credit provider refuses your application
for credit the provider must notify you:
•
that your application has been refused
•
that the reason for that refusal was based wholly
or partly on your consumer credit report (or the
consumer credit report of a person offering to act
as guarantor) and the name and contact details of
the CRB that disclosed that report
•
that you can request a copy of your consumer
credit report from a CRB for free in the 90 days
following the notice of refusal, and how to make
that request
•
how you can request to see any personal
information that the credit provider holds about
you, and
•
how you can seek to have information contained in
your consumer credit report corrected, or how you
can complain if you believe that the credit provider
has mishandling your consumer credit report.
Credit managers
A credit manager that receives a copy of your
consumer credit report from a credit provider can use
that report to:
•
process an application for credit that you have
made to the credit provider, or
•
manage credit that you have been provided with
by the credit provider.
Purchasers and their advisors
A person or organisation that is considering purchasing
(or that has purchased) a debt or an ownership
interest in a credit provider (or a legal or financial
advisor engaged by the purchaser) is permitted to use
your consumer credit report to decide whether to
You should receive this notice at the time that your
application for credit is refused, or within 10 business
days of that date.
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Can the personal information contained in
your credit report be used to market
goods or service directly to you?
CRBs and credit providers are not permitted to use the
information contained in your consumer credit report
for the purpose of marketing goods and services to you
(for more information about the prohibition on direct
marketing, please see no. 14 (Privacy fact sheet 39) in
this series).
Are there restrictions on how a credit
provider can handle other types of
personal information not included in your
credit report?
Credit providers may hold other personal information
about your consumer and commercial credit activities,
which is not permitted to be included in your
consumer credit report. For example, they may have
collected this information from you as part of an
application for credit that you have made to the
provider.
The credit reporting laws do not prevent credit
providers from using this information to help make a
decision about whether to give you credit. Rather, the
credit reporting laws only determine what information
can be included in your consumer credit report, and
how that information can be used.
Importantly, any personal information that the credit
provider has collected directly from you and not from
your consumer credit report (including information
that is not permitted to be included in your consumer
credit report), must still be handled in accordance with
the Australian Privacy Principles where that provider is
also an APP entity (for more information, please see
the APP Guidelines).
For further information
telephone: 1300 363 992
email: [email protected]
write: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001
GPO Box 2999, Canberra ACT 2601
Or visit our website at www.oaic.gov.au
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