Trans Union Corp. has won a round against the Federal Trade Commission in a fight over the right to sell direct-marketing lists.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled last week that the FTC would have to go to trial to enforce its 1994 ban on the practice. The agency would have to present more facts, the court said.
The FTC had suspended enforcement pending a court decision.
It could settle out of court, but FTC attorney David Medine said a trial is likely. "We have no reason to change the position or course we have taken," he said, "because the court ruled in our favor on all the issues pertaining to the Fair Credit Information Act."
The FTC maintains that Trans Union is violating that law by culling information from its credit files to develop the marketing lists.
The marketing lists themselves do not contain credit information, but the FTC says examining the credit files for direct marketing purposes violates the law.
Furthermore, the FTC argues, such marketing lists constitute credit reports, because the credit bureau tracks information only on people who have at least two credit lines.
The appeals court said that to prove its case the FTC must prove that the marketing lists are credit reports.
Oscar Marquis, a lawyer and vice president at Trans Union, said the marketing lists contain noncredit criteria.
The lists are a collection of names, addresses, and other personal information, he said. For example, a marketer may want to identify people who have recently moved, automobile owners, or students.
Trans Union is the only company of the three major credit bureaus that chose to fight the FTC on this matter.
Equifax Inc. left the business in 1991, and TRW Information Systems and Services said in a consent agreement that it would use its credit data to obtain only what it calls identifying information, such as a consumer's name, telephone number, address, date of birth, and Social Security number. TRW buys other personal information about consumers from outside sources.
