The scope of this privacy policy
This policy applies to the processing of your personal data when you visit third-party marketplace services where the service is provided by Experian Limited. Experian also operates several other businesses (which you may not normally interact with). Different privacy policies apply to those other businesses, and those policies discuss in more detail how your personal data might be processed.
About Experian Limited and how to contact us
Experian Limited is the controller of your personal data. Experian is part of a group of companies whose parent company is listed on the London Stock Exchange as Experian plc (EXPN). The Experian group of companies has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, and its operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, United States of America and Nottingham, United Kingdom.
You can find out more about the Experian group on our website at www.experianplc.com. If there is anything you are unsure about in this Privacy Policy, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at odpsar@experian.com.
The information we collect and process
We will need to ask you for certain personal information to deliver the services you have asked for and to give you the best possible experience when you engage with us and when you use our products and services.
We will also collect information about you and the devices you use to access our website, or we may ask third parties to do this for us. In these cases, we do so by using technologies such as cookies. See also our Cookie policy.
Profile information
When you use our comparison services, we will ask you to provide contact information such as: full name, residential address, previous residential addresses, residential status, date of birth, landline telephone number, mobile telephone number and email address.
Product information
Distinctive features of our products may require us to collect and process other personal data. For example: car registration number, time at address, salary/income, employer name, employment title, employment industry, employment status, employment duration, number of people financially dependent on you, monthly mortgage or rent payment and if you require a cash advance.
Credit information
We will use information from Credit Reference Agencies about your credit file to work out your eligibility for financial products. This credit information may include (but is not limited to) some or all the information contained in your credit report (including details of credit accounts held and repayment performance, as well as public information such as inclusion on the electoral roll, bankruptcies, and county court judgements), your credit score or score band.
We will ask you to provide us with further financial information about you (such as salary information) so we may help you understand your financial situation and to search for financial products. More information about credit bureau data is available in the Credit Reference Agency Information Notice (CRAIN) which is shared by Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
Communications history
When you contact us with queries or complaints, we will keep records of those conversations. These records include copies of messages, recordings of phone calls, or notes taken by our agents.
Sales Accreditation Data
As part of the comparison services for financial products, we may collect data from the provider or broker from whom you take out a product via our website. This data may include the status and outcome of your application and details of the product you took out.
Data collected from previous searches
As part of Compare The Market Limited's MyCTM service, previous details you provided to conduct a search for credit card and loan products on its website will be stored for the purpose of providing an eligibility score.
We will only retain this data for as long as there is a continuing need to do so.
Application and Server Logs
We store logs of activity on our applications. This is not tied to a user but does include the IP (Internet Protocol) address that activity originated from. We use this information to identify and fix issues, to identify and prevent fraud and security issues.
Usage, tracking and feedback data
We carefully monitor how our services are operating and how they are used to try to improve them. This is done using cookies and via third parties including Adobe Analytics and Google Analytics. This involves collection of information about you, your devices, and your use of our services:
- Data about web browser interaction – this is collected automatically as you browse our websites.
- Searches and search results – our product comparison services will collect information about your personal circumstances, what you are searching for and what results you are seeing. This may include information such as income and employment status when searching for cards and loans or car registration.
- Diagnostic information – we may collect other data (such as which device you are using and usage frequency) to help us monitor our services are operating and operating securely.
- Your web browsing activity on our services, including the URLs (Universal Record Locator) and names of the web pages you visit on our sites, time of day of your visit, time spent on each page, and what you do on them including whether you clicked on link, image or text on our site or downloaded a file, image, etc.
- The URL of the page that displayed the link that you clicked on, which brought you to our website and the web search you performed that led you to our website.
- Device identifiers and information - we also collect certain data automatically when you visit our website or use our services. These include IP address, screen resolution, browser, device type and software. We may deduce an approximate location from an anonymised version of your IP address, or location information from your mobile device or web browser. Having access to this information helps us better understand our customers. You can read more about how we use cookies and similar technologies on our website by visiting our Cookie policy.
We do not use any of this data to identify you. It is stored anonymously and used to improve our services and track sales.
How long do we keep your information?
Profile information We will only retain your profile information and Contact information for as long as there is a continuing need to retain it. Product information We will only retain your other information for as long as there is a continuing need to retain it. Not all businesses will use all the information you provide.
Credit information We will only retain your credit information for as long as there is a continuing need to retain it, this may be up to 1 year. Companies we share your data with may store your credit information for longer than this. If your credit information has been shared with Experian Limited for the purpose of generating an eligibility score, we will store it for 2 years.
We will also store your credit information for up to 30 days after it was collected to re-use it if you request another eligibility check via the same site. This means we will not have to request the data from the Credit Reference Agency Bureau repeatedly.
Communications history Up to 6 years from the resolution of a complaint or query (whichever is longer).
Sales Accreditation data We will only retain your data for as long as there is a continuing need to retain it.
Data collected from previous searches We will only retain this data for as long as there is a continuing need to do so.
Application and server logs We will only retain logging information for 30 days.
Usage, tracking and feedback data We will only retain your device and interaction information for as long as there is a continuing need to retain it.
We may also keep your information to comply with our legal obligations, resolve any disputes and enforce our rights. These reasons can vary from one piece of information to the next and depend on the services, so the amount of time we keep your personal information for may vary.
All data we store is protected with point-in-time restore functionality, which means that we can restore our databases to the state they were in at any point within the previous 35 days. This is to ensure we can access data in the case of potential data loss or corruption. This functionality is rarely used. If it is, every effort will be made to delete again any information that had been deleted from the live database since the restore point. These 35 days that we could potentially restore data from is not included in any other reference to how long we retain your data for.
In all cases, our need to use your personal information will be reassessed on a regular basis, and information which is no longer required for any purposes will be disposed of.
How we use your information
To enable you to access our website and use our services
We will use your information to provide you with our products and services.
To provide and improve customer support
We will use your information to be able to provide and improve the customer support we provide to you (e.g., when you have questions).
To provide comparison services and create eligibility ratings
When you use our comparison services to search for products, the information you provide is used to retrieve information about products relevant to your search and create a table which allows you to compare them.
Where eligibility ratings are available, the information you provide (including personal information such as your name and address) and your current and historical credit information from one of them three main Credit Reference Agencies has been profiled by running it through an algorithm known as a scorecard to create the eligibility rating displayed. The eligibility rating is to help you understand whether you are likely to be accepted based on the lender’s criteria. In some cases, the eligibility result for a particular product will be generated by the product provider utilising the information we collect about you, the information they hold about you and information from Credit Reference Agencies.
Publicly held data, including the electoral roll and shared credit performance data, may be used to support the generation of an eligibility rating. If you have a financial associate, their data may also be provided.
When the Credit Reference Agency receives a search from us, they will place a quotation search footprint on your credit report. This search will not affect your ability to gain credit. If you choose to apply for a product, the lender will undertake a credit check and provide you with further privacy information for that product. It is important to note that there may be other products available from lenders who are not represented by this service.
To provide you with information of a recent eligibility search
When you use certain comparison services provided by Experian, we will send you an email that summarises your results if you did not apply for a product after completing your search. This email will only be sent if you have consented for us to do so.
To pre-populate partner applications
In some circumstances, we make it easier for you when you select a product on one of our comparisons services that we provide to third parties. When you want to submit an application to a particular broker, aggregator, lender, or other provider, we will share limited information with them so that their application process can be pre-populated and save you re-inputting information you have already told us. Typically, the information that we will share would include your name, address, phone number and email address.
To comply with the law
Like any other business, we are required to comply with many laws and regulations. Where necessary (i.e., where it is reasonable and proportionate for us to do so), we will use your personal data to the extent required to enable us to comply with these requirements. This could include sending you information that Experian Limited is legally required to send for consumer products or another part of the Experian business.
To investigate, detect and prevent fraud and crime
We will use your information for fraud and crime investigation in relation to any requests made by government agencies. We will disclose any information we have in our possession to law enforcement or government officials in response to any inquiry or investigation or if in our sole discretion, we believe that it is necessary or appropriate in connection with any investigation or activity that is illegal.
To maintain our records and other administrative functions
Like any business, we need to ensure that we maintain comprehensive and up to date records of the ways we process your personal information and other operational activities. Therefore, we will process the information you provide for record-keeping, updates, and general administrative purposes. We will process your IP address to allow us to identify legitimate clicks across our services. We need to do this to allow our business to function and so that we can provide the service to you. They are never used to identify you.
To track activity on our website
We will use your information to track your activity on our websites to help us better understand your interests and how you interact with us. We will also use this information to better engage with you and to ensure that you get the best service we can provide and improve the products in the future.
For broker enquiries
To enquire about or apply for certain loans and mortgages on our comparison sites, you may need to talk to a broker. If this is the case, we will ask for your permission to send your name and contact details to them. Your details will only be sent to the broker of your chosen product.
For internal training purposes
We will use your information to ensure that our team has the knowledge and expertise they need to ensure we provide the best possible experience to our customers when interacting with us.
For reporting and analytical purposes
We will use your information for reporting and analytical purposes to enable us to improve our products and services and provide appropriate levels of support to our customers.
For complaint and dispute resolution
We will try to make sure that you are happy with the service we provide and do not feel the need to complain. However, if you do complain to us, we will use the information we have about you to help us manage your complaint.
If we use your personal information for any purposes that are not set out in this Privacy Policy, we promise to let you know exactly what we will use it for before we go ahead and use it.
To help our partners develop and improve the products and services they offer you.
Where you use our comparison services, we may also share your personal data with lenders or brokers returned as part of your search to enable them to conduct their own analysis, in order to develop and improve the products and services they offer.
Your data may also be shared with other lenders or brokers as part of services we have developed to help them understand customer behaviours (for example, to enable them to understand which products customers took where their product was returned as part of a search). Where possible, this information will be provided in an anonymised or pseudonymised way.
What legal grounds we use for handling personal information
Data protection laws require that where we are processing your personal data, we must satisfy at least one prescribed condition for processing. These are set out in data protection law, and we rely on several different conditions for the activities we carry out.
Necessary for performance of a contract or to comply with law
In most cases, the information described above will be provided to us by you because you want to take services from us or engage with us and our use of your information will be governed by contract terms. Giving this information to us is therefore your choice. If you choose not to give all or some of it to us, this may affect our ability to provide the services you want, to you. We may rely on this condition for processing in the following scenarios:
- To enable you to access our website and use our services.
- To let you know about significant changes to product, terms or privacy policy.
- To confirm your identity and authenticate the information you provide.
- To provide and improve customer support.
- To resolve complaints and disputes where your complaint/dispute relates to an FCA regulated part of our services.
- To provide comparison services and create eligibility ratings.
- To provide information related to your use of our comparison services.
- To comply with the law.
- For broker enquiries.
- Investigation, detection and prevention of crime.
Consent
We ask for your consent to process your personal data to send you an email when you use the eligibility check service for credit cards and unsecured loans on some of our services. The purpose of the email is to summarise your results and will only be sent if you have consented for us to do so.
We obtain your consent when we use non-essential cookies, or technology like cookies, and/or collect information about the device you use to access our website. Sometimes we work with third parties who carry out these activities on our behalf. You will be asked to consent to the use of non-essential cookies before using our website. Further information about the cookies is included in our Cookies Policy.
Necessary in our legitimate interests or those of a third party
In the United Kingdom, we can also use personal information where the benefits of doing it are not outweighed by the interests or fundamental rights or freedoms of individuals. The law calls this the "Legitimate Interests" condition for processing. Where we rely on it, the benefits being pursued by us are:
- Fraud investigation, detection and prevention
Identifying and stopping fraud, including fraudulent access to our services. - Internal training purposes
To enable us to train our staff to better provide services to our customers. - To maintain our records and other administrative functions.
- Reporting, analytics, and product development
To provide management information and information to continue to provide our services efficiently at scale, to help improve our services and communications, and those of our partners. - To personalise your experiences on our websites so that we can tailor the services we provide to you and how we communicate with you.
- For credit application pre-population.
- For reward scheme validation.
- To resolve complaints and disputes where your complaint or dispute is not about an FCA regulated part of our services – we will need to use customer data when looking into queries and complaints.
- To help our partners develop and improve the products and services they offer you.
Sharing your personal information
We share your personal information with those persons who need to handle it so we can provide the Experian products and services you have used. We also share it with suppliers, who provide services to us which require access to your personal information, and resellers, distributors and agents involved in delivering the services we provide where necessary for them to do so.
Lastly, we may also provide your personal information to fraud prevention agencies. This is to protect the Experian group of companies and our customers, to keep our systems secure, or where it is necessary to protect either yours or our best interests.
- Group companies
As a member of the Experian group of companies, we can benefit from the large IT (Information Technology) infrastructure and expertise that exists within our business. This means that the personal data you provide to us may be accessed by members of our group of companies for support and administrative purposes. - Suppliers
We use several service providers to support our business and these service providers may have access to our systems and data to provide services to us and/or to you on our behalf. - Resellers, distributors and agents
We sometimes use organisations to help provide our products and services to clients and customers. Personal data may be provided to them in connection with this purpose. - Fraud prevention agencies
The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with fraud prevention agencies who will use it to prevent fraud and money laundering and to verify your identity. Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information.
If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment. Further details of how your information will be used by us and these fraud prevention agencies can be obtained on the Cifas website. We and other organisations may access and use the information recorded by fraud prevention agencies from other countries.
- Public bodies, law enforcement and regulators
The police, other law enforcement agencies, regulators as well as public bodies, such as local and central authorities, can sometimes request personal information. This may be for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime, apprehending, or prosecuting offenders, assessing, or collecting tax, investigating complaints, or assessing how well a particular industry sector is working.
- Brokers, lenders, aggregators and providers of credit and financial products
In some circumstances, we will share credit report information and your personal information (such as name and address) with brokers, lenders and providers of credit and financial products themselves for purposes that may include:- verifying your eligibility for products
- verifying suitability of products
- those set out in the lender's terms and conditions and/or its privacy policy relevant to the product you are searching for - a list of our brokers, lenders and providers of credit and financial products can be found here;
- assisting you in completing your application with a credit provider or broker as well as certain brokers and providers of regulated mortgage contracts (which may include pre-populating the application form on their website)
- contacting you regarding credit and financial products; and complying with any contractual, legal and/or regulatory obligations
- providing analysis and insight to help the lender or broker to improve the products and services that they offer to our customers.
We may also share your personal and credit information with lenders or brokers returned as part of your search to enable them to conduct their own analysis, in order to develop and improve the products and services they offer.
Where we share your personal and credit information with these firms, they become controller of your data.
Credit Reference Agencies
We will pass the information we hold about you to Credit Reference Agencies and source information about you from them, as described in the “For eligibility” section of ‘How we use your information’ above.
The Credit Reference Agencies, with links to their Credit Reference Agency Information Notices are TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian.
You can contact any of the Credit Reference Agencies if you wish to obtain a copy of your credit report:
Experian, Customer Support Centre, PO Box 9000, Nottingham, NG80 7WF or call 0800 013 8888 or go to its website.
TransUnion, Consumer Services Team, PO Box 491, Leeds, LS3 1WZ or call 0330 024 7574 or go to its website.
Equifax Ltd, Customer Service Centre, PO Box 10036, Leicester, LE3 4FS or go to its website.
Individuals
You can obtain a copy of the information we hold about you. See section 'Your rights to how we use your personal information' for further information on how you can do this.
The information we send in the world
Experian is based in the United Kingdom, which is where our main databases are as well as Dublin, Ireland and Amsterdam, Netherlands. We also operate elsewhere in and outside the European Economic Area, so we may access your personal information from and transfer it to these locations as well. Any personal information we access from or transfer to these locations is protected by European data protection standards.
While countries in the European Economic Area all ensure rigorous data protection laws, there are parts of the world that may not be quite so rigorous and do not provide the same quality of legal protection when it comes to your personal information. To make sure we keep your personal information safe, we apply strict safeguards when transferring it overseas. For example:
- sending your personal information to countries approved by the European Commission as having high quality data protection laws, such as Switzerland, Canada, and the Isle of Man
- putting in place a contract that has been approved by the European Commission with the recipient of your personal information that provides a suitable level of protection
- sending your personal information to an organisation which is a member of a programme certified by the European Commission as having in place equivalent protections to those in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom.
A list of brokers, lenders and providers of credit and financial products
Credit cards
American Express
Barclaycard
Halifax
HSBC
M&S Bank
MBNA
NatWest
Royal Bank of Scotland
Santander
Zable
Zopa
Loans
AA
Abound
Admiral
ASDA Money
Autolend
Bamboo
Bank of Ireland UK
BeSavvi Loans
Car Money
CarFinance 247 Limited
Carmoola
Everyday loans
Evolution Money
Finio loans
Fluent
Fluro
GuarantorMyLoan
Hastings Direct
HSBC
Lendable
Lending Expert
Loan.co.uk
M&S Bank
Match Me Car Finance
Moneybarn
My Community Finance
Nationwide
NatWest
Novuna Personal Finance
Oakbrook Loans
Oodle Car Finance
Plata Finance
Post Office
RateSetter
Royal Bank of Scotland
Sainsbury’s Ban
Salary Finance
Santander
Selina Finance
Shawbrook Bank
Tesco Bank
TSB
Zopa
Zuto
Current Accounts
Barclays
CardOneMoney
Cashplus Bank
Chase
first direct
Monzo
Natwest Premier
Santander
Starling Bank
TSB
Savings Accounts
Aldermore
Chase
Get Chip
Leeds Building Society
Moneybox
My Community Bank
Nationwide
Natwest
Paragon
Plum
Post Office
RCI Bank
Royal Bank of Scotland
Yorkshire Building Society
Your rights to how we use your personal information
It is important that you understand your rights in relation to your personal information and how you can contact us if you have questions or concerns.
If you have given us consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us at odpsar@experian.com. If the consent relates to cookies, you can withdraw or amend your consent by at any time by using the Cookies Settings link at the bottom of each page. You can also ask for access to the personal information we hold about you by visiting https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/data-access.
You have the right to object to our use of your personal data. We will do as you ask where possible and in line with applicable law.
You have the right to object to our use of your personal data. We will do as you ask where possible and in line with applicable law. You also have the right to request that we correct any mistakes, restrict processing, or delete your data. It is worth noting that in some cases if you do ask us to correct, delete or stop processing data, we will not always be required to do so. Where your rights do not apply, we will explain why. To use these rights, contact us at odpsar@experian.com.
In certain circumstances (e.g., where you provide your information to us with consent to process it or where the processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you) you can request that we provide the information we hold about you either to you or a third party in a commonly used format. This only applies if we are processing it using automation only. If you would like more information about this, let us know by contacting us at odpsar@experian.com.We will try to ensure that we deliver the best levels of customer service but if you think we are falling short of that commitment, please let us know by contacting us at runpathcomplaints@experian.com .
If you are still unhappy with any aspect of how we handle your personal information, you also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the supervisory authority that regulates the handling of personal information in the United Kingdom. You can contact them by:
- Going to its website https://ico.org.uk/.
- telephone on 0303 123 1113
- post to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF, United Kingdom
For financial issues, if we cannot resolve your complaint then you may have the right to refer your complaint, free of charge, to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You can contact it by:
- Going to its website https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.
- telephone 0300 123 9 123 or from outside the United Kingdom +44 20 7964 1000
- post to: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR, United Kingdom
- email complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
- Group companies
How we keep your personal information secure
Online privacy and security are the most important aspects of any customer service, and we take it extremely seriously. We use a variety of the latest technologies and procedures to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, destruction, use or disclosure.
Experian Limited has a comprehensive Global Security Policy based on internationally recognised standards of security (known as ISO27001 standard) and holds ISO27001 certification in the key areas of the Global Security Administration team, who are responsible for administering logical access to systems and in the Data Centre.
Experian Limited has a dedicated Cyber Security Investigations team who safeguard Experian's key assets, such as its systems and storage facilities. This team identify and effectively manage any security developments that may threaten Experian's people, process or technology through intervention and the thorough investigation of security incidents. Experian holds Cyber Essentials Certification and performs risk assessments against our critical and external facing applications annually.
Experian is annually audited by an External QSA (Qualified Security Assessor) from Trustwave and have successfully maintained compliance since 2010.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We can update this Privacy Policy at any time and ideally you should check it regularly for updates. We will not alert you to every minor change, but if there are any major changes to the Policy or how we use your information we will let you know and, where appropriate, ask for your consent. Previous versions of this Privacy Policy are available upon request.
This Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with Experian Partner Marketplace Services Cookies Policy, Terms & Conditions and Terms of Use.
