Editing Equifax (section)

==History==
Equifax was founded as the Retail Credit Company by Cator and Guy Woolford in [[Atlanta|Atlanta, Georgia]], as Retail Credit Company in 1899.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Equifax|url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/business-economy/equifax|access-date=2020-06-13|website=New Georgia Encyclopedia|language=en}}</ref> By 1920, the company had offices throughout the United States and Canada.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Anderson|first=Raymond|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7LlGfPvOJLoC&q=by+1920%2C+equifax+had+offices+throughout+the+United+States+and+Canada&pg=PA49|title=The Credit Scoring Toolkit: Theory and Practice for Retail Credit Risk Management and Decision Automation|date=2007-08-30|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-922640-5|language=en}}</ref> By the 1960s, Retail Credit Company was one of the nation's largest credit bureaus, holding files on millions of American and Canadian citizens.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-09-18|title=Equifax breach just another page in the sordid history of credit bureaus|url=https://themortgagereports.com/31656/equifax-breach-sordid-history-of-credit-bureaus|access-date=2020-06-13|website=Mortgage Rates, Mortgage News and Strategy : The Mortgage Reports}}</ref><ref name="wired" /> Even though the company continued to do credit reporting, the majority of its business was making reports to [[insurance]] companies when people applied for new insurance policies, such as life, auto, fire and medical insurance.<ref name="wired" /> RCC also investigated insurance claims and made employment reports when people were seeking new jobs. Most of the credit work was then being done by a [[subsidiary]], Retailers Commercial Agency.

Retail Credit Company's information holdings and willingness to sell its information attracted criticism in the 1960s and 1970s. These included that it collected "...{{nbsp}}facts, statistics, inaccuracies and rumors ... about virtually every phase of a person's life; his marital troubles, jobs, school history, childhood, sex life, and political activities." The company was also alleged to reward its employees for collecting derogatory information on consumers.<ref name=wired>[https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.09/equifax.html "Separating Equifax from fiction"], ''Wired'', September 1995, retrieved September 13, 2007</ref> This led to discrimination against [[queer]] people and [[people of color]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Equifax Way |url=https://jacobin.com/2017/09/equifax-retail-credit-company-discrimination-loans |access-date=2023-08-19 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US}}</ref> 

In 1970, after the company had computerized its records, which led to wider availability of the personal information it held, the U.S. Congress held hearings that led to the enactment of the [[Fair Credit Reporting Act]]. This legislation gave consumers rights regarding information stored about them in corporate databanks.<ref>{{Cite web|last=FTC|date=2020|title=A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act|url=https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=FTC|archive-date=June 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621215908/https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is alleged that the hearings prompted the Retail Credit Company to change its name to Equifax in 1975 to improve its image.<ref name=wired />

Equifax expanded into commercial credit reports on companies in the United States, [[Canada]] and the UK, where it came into competition with companies such as [[Dun & Bradstreet]] and [[Experian]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Equifax Inc {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/businesses-and-occupations/equifax-inc|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> The insurance reporting was phased out.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} The company also had a division selling specialist credit information to the insurance industry but spun off this service, including the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange (CLUE) database as [[ChoicePoint]] in 1997.<ref>{{Cite web|last=SEC Archives|date=December 31, 2001|title=ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2001|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1040596/000095014402003091/g75084e10-k.txt|access-date=June 12, 2020|website=SEC}}</ref> Equifax formerly offered digital certification services, which it sold to [[GeoTrust]] in September 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|title=GeoTrust acquires Equifax's digital certificate business|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2001/09/24/daily17.html|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.bizjournals.com}}</ref> Also in 2001, Equifax spun off its payment services division, forming the publicly listed company [[Certegy]], which subsequently acquired [[Fidelity National Information Services]] in 2006.<ref name="www.sec.gov">{{Cite web|title=DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENTS RELATING TO MERGER OR ACQUISITION|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1136893/000110465905060670/a05-17182_1prer14a.htm|access-date=2020-06-13|website=www.sec.gov}}</ref> Certegy effectively became a subsidiary of [[Fidelity National Financial]] as a result of this reverse acquisition merger ''(See [[Certegy]] and [[Fidelity National Information Services]] for further information)''.<ref name="www.sec.gov" />

In October 2010, Equifax announced it was acquiring Anakam, an [[Identity verification service|identity verification]] software company headquartered in [[San Diego|San Diego, California]], which invented and pioneered [[SMS]] (text-message based) [[Multi-factor authentication|two-factor authentication]]. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Equifax purchased eThority, a [[business intelligence]] (BI) company headquartered in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], in October 2011. eThority is partnering with [[TALX]], a [[St. Louis]]-based business unit of Equifax, and remained in Charleston.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kearney|first=Brendan|title=Equifax buys local eThority: Company to stay, grow in Charleston, founder says|url=http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20111004/PC05/310049930|newspaper=The Post and Courier|date=October 4, 2011}}</ref>

In February 2016, Equifax acquired the Australasian company [[Veda (company)|Veda]], the largest [[credit reference agency]] in Australia at the time. Veda had previously acquired the Australian [[market research]] and [[opinion poll]]ing company [[ReachTEL]] in September 2015, which continues to produce opinion polls in Australia.<ref name=inside2019>{{cite web | title=Who controls opinion polling in Australia, what else we need to know about the polls, and why it matters |first=Murray| last=Goot| website=Inside Story | date=15 May 2019 | url=https://insidestory.org.au/who-controls-opinion-polling-in-australia/  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220211/https://insidestory.org.au/who-controls-opinion-polling-in-australia/  |archive-date=2022-02-11 |url-status=live| access-date=11 February 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Equifax was the subject of more than 57,000 consumer complaints to the [[Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]] from October 2012 to September 17, 2017, with most complaints relating to incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or misattributed information held by the company.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 18, 2017 |title=The Dizzying Number Of CFPB Complaints Against Equifax Since 2012 Should Infuriate You |language=en-US |work=Fast Company |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40469235/the-dizzying-number-of-cfpb-complaints-against-equifax-since-2012-should-infuriate-you |access-date=September 18, 2017}}</ref>

In September 2017, Equifax announced a [[data breach|cyber-security breach]], which it claims to have occurred between mid-May and July 2017,<ref name="Equifax-2017">{{Citation |last=Equifax |title=Rick Smith, Chairman and CEO of Equifax, on Cybersecurity Incident Involving Consumer Data. |date=September 7, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh1gzJFVFLc |access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref> where [[Cybercrime|cybercriminals]] accessed approximately 145.5 million U.S. Equifax consumers' personal data, including their full names, [[Social Security number]]s, birth dates, addresses, and [[Driver's licenses in the United States|driver license numbers]]. Equifax also confirmed at least 209,000 consumers' credit card credentials were taken in the attack. On March 1, 2018, Equifax announced that 2.4 million additional U.S. customers were affected by the breach,<ref name="NBC News">{{Cite news |title=Equifax just discovered 2.4M more account breaches |language=en |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/equifax-identifies-additional-2-4-million-customers-hit-data-breach-n852226 |access-date=2018-03-01}}</ref> increasing the number of affected to 147.9 million Americans. The company claims to have discovered evidence of the cybercrime event on July 29, 2017.  Residents in the [[United Kingdom]] (15.2 million) and [[Canada]] (about 19,000) were also impacted. The vulnerability which Chinese hackers leveraged was {{CVE|2017-5638}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=NVD - CVE-2017-5638 |url=https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-5638 |website=nvd.nist.gov}}</ref> the hackers managed to stay in Equifax's systems undetected for approximately 134{{spaces}}days.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-09-16 |title=Equifax, Apache Struts, and CVE-2017-5638 vulnerability {{!}} Synopsys |url=https://www.synopsys.com/blogs/software-security/equifax-apache-struts-vulnerability-cve-2017-5638/ |access-date=2020-02-17 |website=Software Integrity Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

In March 2018, the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|Security and Exchange Commission]] accused Jun Ying, Equifax's former [[Chief information officer|CIO]], of illicit insider trading, by selling company stock before the breach was publicly disclosed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-07-19 |title=Equifax CIO Put '2 and 2 Together' Then Sold Stock, SEC Says |language=en |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-14/sec-says-former-equifax-executive-engaged-in-insider-trading |access-date=2019-07-20}}</ref> After an investigation by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]], Ying pleaded guilty, was sentenced to four months of prison plus a year of supervised release, and was fined $55,000.00 and ordered to pay restitution of $117,117.61 in June 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-27 |title=Former Equifax employee sentenced for insider trading |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/former-equifax-employee-sentenced-insider-trading |access-date=2019-07-20 |website=www.justice.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref name="sw-2019-06-28">{{Cite web |title=Former Equifax Executive Gets 4 Months for Insider Trading &#124; SecurityWeek.Com |url=https://www.securityweek.com/former-equifax-executive-gets-4-months-insider-trading |website=www.securityweek.com}}</ref>  An Equifax manager, Sudhakar Reddy Bonthu, also pleaded guilty to insider trading and received a sentence of 8 months of home confinement.<ref>{{cite news |last=Saunders |first=Jessica |date=October 17, 2018 |title=Former Equifax manager sentenced to 8 months home confinement for insider trading |work=The Atlanta Business Chronicle |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/10/17/former-equifax-manager-sentenced-to-8-months-home.html}}</ref><ref name="sw-2018-10-18">{{Cite web |title=Ex-Equifax Manager Gets Home Confinement for Insider Trading &#124; SecurityWeek.Com |url=https://www.securityweek.com/ex-equifax-manager-gets-home-confinement-insider-trading |website=www.securityweek.com}}</ref>

In July 2019, ''[[The New York Times]]'', the ''[[New York Post]]'' and other media reported Equifax had agreed to pay approximately $650 million to settle with the [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC) to resolve investigations by several state attorneys general, the [[Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]], the FTC, and a consumer class-action lawsuit related to the data breach.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Cowley |first1=Stacy |last2=Eavis |first2=Peter |date=2019-07-19 |title=Equifax Is Said to Be Near $650 Million Settlement for Data Breach |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/equifax-data-breach-settlement.html |access-date=2019-07-20 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-07-20 |title=Equifax agrees to pay $700M after massive data breach |url=https://nypost.com/2019/07/19/equifax-agrees-to-pay-700m-after-massive-data-breach/ |access-date=2019-07-20 |website=New York Post |language=en |agency=Associated Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Continuing Coverage: Data Privacy|agency=Associated Press |title=Report: Equifax to pay $700 million in breach settlement |language=en |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/report-equifax-pay-700-million-breach-settlement/dAjWtK56pwScg9ZF18ININ/ |access-date=2019-07-20}}</ref>

By September 2019, however, Equifax had added qualifications and "hurdles" to its claims process which put in doubt whether the previously announced cash settlement of $125 per affected consumer would actually be awarded.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Warzel |first=Charlie |date=2019-09-16 |title=Opinion {{!}} Equifax Doesn't Want You to Get Your $125. Here's What You Can Do. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/16/opinion/equifax-settlement.html |access-date=2019-09-16 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Want that $125 from Equifax? Don't ignore the company's latest email |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equifax-breach-settlement-if-you-want-that-125-or-less-dont-ignore-the-equifax-email/ |access-date=2019-09-16 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=September 10, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=That $125 payment from Equifax? You shouldn't count on it |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equifax-breach-settlement-2019-that-125-payment-from-equifax-heres-why-you-shouldnt-count-on-it/ |access-date=2019-09-16 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=July 31, 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 19 December 2019, a federal judge in Atlanta awarded class-action attorneys representing consumers approximately $77.5 million, suggesting that individual consumers might expect to receive around six or seven dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leonhardt |first=Megan |date=2019-12-19 |title=If you made a claim for $125 from Equifax, you're not getting it after court awards nearly $80 million to attorneys |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/19/court-awards-80-million-to-consumer-attorneys-in-equifax-case.html |access-date=2019-12-20 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref>

In July 2020, Equifax reported that, after purchasing Ansonia Credit Data (Ansonia), a major source of consumer credit, payments, and invoice receivables (AR) data used by financial companies and other borrowers and businesses in the shipping and logistics sectors, the firm has expanded its position in commercial payment technology solutions.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 July 2020|title=Equifax acquires Ansonia expanding leadership in commercial credit data solutions|url=https://ibsintelligence.com/ibs-journal/ibs-news/equifax-acquires-ansonia-expanding-leadership-in-commercial-credit-data-solutions/|access-date=28 July 2020|website=IBSIntelligence|archive-date=July 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728022100/https://ibsintelligence.com/ibs-journal/ibs-news/equifax-acquires-ansonia-expanding-leadership-in-commercial-credit-data-solutions/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 2 August 2022, a week after its CEO [[Mark Begor]] was deemed "uniquely qualified to lead the Company" and was granted a $25 million bonus package by Equifax's board, the [[The Wall Street Journal|Wall Street Journal]] reported that Equifax had sent millions of incorrectly calculated credit scores to lenders.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Andriotis |first=Andrew Ackerman and AnnaMaria |date=2022-08-02 |title=WSJ News Exclusive {{!}} Equifax Sent Lenders Inaccurate Credit Scores on Millions of Consumers |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/equifax-sent-lenders-inaccurate-credit-scores-on-millions-of-consumers-11659467483 |access-date=2022-08-03 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Alexandra Peers |date=August 3, 2022 |title=Equifax issued wrong credit scores for millions |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/03/business/equifax-wrong-credit-scores/index.html |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=CNN}}</ref> Equifax acknowledged reporting inaccurate credit scores, but insisted the errors had affected only a few people. The following day, a class-action lawsuit was filed by Jacksonville, Florida resident Nydia Jenkins against Equifax alleging she had received a "substantially pricier car loan" (resulting in an additional loan payment of  $2,352 more per year) due to Equifax reporting her credit score 130 points off from what it should have been.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jenkins v. Equifax - Complaint.pdf |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nT63LlVMp4Bzznw8yc078vvJXvjxUpVI/view?usp=embed_facebook |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=Google Docs}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Equifax sued over erroneous credit scores sent for "millions" of Americans |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/equifax-lawsuit-wrong-credit-score/ |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=August 4, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In February 2023, it was announced Equifax had acquired the [[Barueri]]-headquartered credit bureau, Boa Vista Serviços for $596 million,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-10 |title=Equifax to acquire Brazilian credit bureau Boa Vista Serviços for $596m |url=https://www.nsbanking.com/news/equifax-to-acquire-boa-vista-servicos/ |access-date=2023-02-10 |website=NS Banking |language=en-US}}</ref> starting to trade on the [[B3 (stock exchange)|B3]] in [[São Paulo]], under the symbol EFXB31.