Editing Experian (section)

==Operations==
In the United States, like the other major credit reporting bureaus, Experian is chiefly regulated by the [[Fair Credit Reporting Act]] (FCRA). The [[Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act]] of 2003, signed into law in 2003, amended the FCRA to require the credit reporting companies to provide consumers with one free copy of their credit report per 12-month period. Like its main competitors, [[TransUnion]] and [[Equifax]], Experian markets [[credit report]]s directly to consumers. Experian heavily markets its for-profit credit reporting service, [[FreeCreditReport.com]], and all three agencies have been criticised and even sued for selling credit reports that can be obtained at no cost.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Bob |date=10 May 2005 |title=Many free credit reports still aren't free |publisher=[[NBC News]] |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7803368 |access-date=29 October 2006 |archive-date=23 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423102047/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/7803368/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Experian, Consumerinfo.com Named in Class Action Suit |url=http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/experian_class_action.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102191439/http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/experian_class_action.html |archive-date=2 November 2006 |access-date=29 October 2006 |website=ConsumerAffairs.com}}</ref>

Its market segmentation tool, [[Mosaic (geodemography)|Mosaic]], is used by political parties to identify groups of voters. In the British version there are 15 main groups, broken down into 89 hyperspecific categories, from "corporate chieftains" to "golden empty-nesters" which can be taken down to the level of individual [[postcodes]]. It was first used by the Labour Party, but then taken up by the Conservatives in the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 General Election]] campaign.<ref>{{Cite news |date=6 November 2013 |title=Tories identify eight groups of voters as Labour look to Obama campaign for inspiration: The sophisticated tools that rivals hope will win them 2015 election revealed |work=The Independent|location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-identify-eight-groups-of-voters-as-labour-look-to-obama-campaign-for-inspiration-the-8925374.html |url-status=live |access-date=1 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104001019/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tories-identify-eight-groups-of-voters-as-labour-look-to-obama-campaign-for-inspiration-the-8925374.html |archive-date=4 November 2016}}</ref>