Consumer Reporting Amendment Act, 2005 Ruprecht, Tony — Bill 38 (38th Parliament, 2nd Session)

Bill 38, 38-2

Ontario — Bills

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Bill 38, Consumer Reporting Amendment Act, 2005

Ruprecht, Tony

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[38] Bill 38 Original (PDF)

Bill 38 2005

An Act to amend the

Consumer Reporting Act

Note: This Act amends the Consumer Reporting Act . For the legislative history of the Act, see Public Statutes - Detailed Legislative

History on www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

(1) The definition of "consumer report" in subsection 1 (1) of the Consumer Reporting Act is amended by striking out "written, oral or other communication" and substituting "written or

other communication, except an oral communication".

(2) The definition of "credit information" in subsection 1 (1) of the Act is amended by adding at the end "as well as unique identifier numbers and inquiry records arising out of applications for credit only".

(3) Subsection 1 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following

definitions:

"credit score" means a numerical value or categorization derived from a statistical tool or modelling system used by a consumer reporting agency to predict the likelihood of certain credit behaviours, including default; ("cote de

crédit")

"inquiry record" means a record indicating that a credit inquiry has been received with respect to a consumer and that, pursuant to that inquiry, personal or credit information relating to the consumer has been provided; ("dossier de demande de

renseignements")

"key factors" means all relevant elements or reasons adversely affecting the credit score for a particular individual listed in order of their importance based on their effect on the credit score; ("éléments-clés")

"unique identifier number" means a number assigned to a consumer credit information file by a consumer reporting agency as a means of identifying the consumer. ("numéro identificateur unique")

(4) The definition of "personal information" in subsection 1 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out "or about any other matter concerning the consumer" at the end.

(1) Section 8 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same

(1.1) No consumer reporting agency shall provide a consumer report to any person without first obtaining,

(

a) a copy of the consent by which the consumer authorized the communication of personal or credit information;

(

b) the person's name, address, telephone and fax numbers and the reference number under which the person stored the original of the consumer's consent to the communication of personal or credit information to the person; and

(

c) confirmation that the information is sought for a purpose permitted under this

section and will be used for no other purpose.

(2) Subsection 8 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out "Despite subsections (1) and (2)" at the beginning and substituting "Despite subsections (1), (1.1) and (2)".

3. (1) Subsection 9 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Procedures of agencies

(1) Every consumer reporting agency shall ensure accuracy and fairness in its consumer reports.

(2) Subsection 9 (2) of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(

c) information pertaining to a consumer's address, date of birth, social insurance number and credit account numbers that is not provided in a truncated form, except where a court of competent jurisdiction issues an order for the inclusion of

such information;

(

d) any information that is not provided by the person providing the information, except for the unique identifier number;

(

e) any information pertaining to inquiry records that has not been obtained as a result of a direct application for credit or an application for an increase in credit.

(3) Subsection 9 (3) of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(e.1) information as to the creditors of the consumer in a bankruptcy proceeding and the amounts owing by the consumer at the date of the consumer's discharge from bankruptcy;

(e.2) information that is in oral form;

. . . . .

(j.1) information as to an inquiry record after three years following the date of the consumer's application for credit that gave rise to the inquiry record;

(4) Section 9 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Calculation of credit scores

(3.1) No consumer reporting agency shall consider as a key factor in determining the credit score of a person the fact that there is an inquiry record or that personal or credit information has been obtained.

Duty to include information not at issue

(3.2) Where a consumer has commenced a legal proceeding against a consumer reporting agency, the agency shall not delete or otherwise fail to include personal or credit information in a consumer report as long as that information is

not at issue in the legal proceeding.

. . . . .

Collection, storage and disclosure of information in files

(5) For the purpose of ensuring accuracy and fairness as described in subsection (1) and, in addition, for the purpose of ensuring privacy, integrity and confidentiality with respect to the information in its reports, every consumer

reporting agency shall adopt all procedures that are reasonable, including,

(

a) ensuring that all information is collected, stored and disclosed in accordance with this Act and the principles of fair information practices listed in

Schedule 1 to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act

(Canada);

(

b) ensuring that all retention, disclosure and use of personal or credit information and personally identifiable data by the consumer reporting agency has the consumer's explicit consent, as witnessed by the consumer's written signature;

(

c) ensuring that electronic signature certificates originate from a certification authority approved by the federal Communications Security Establishment with a registered object identifier number issued by Public Works and Government Services

Canada and that,

(

i) all personal or credit information is adequately secured with encryption mechanisms to prevent inadvertent disclosure,

(ii) notification is provided to the consumer before the deletion of any personal or credit information in accordance with the requirements of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada),

(iii) access is provided to the Registrar and other authorized persons for the purpose of auditing and reporting on compliance with requirements for the retention, disclosure and use of personal or credit information, personally identifiable

data and collected consents, and

(iv) the consumer reporting agency complies with its responsibilities regarding the retention, disclosure and use of personal or credit information, personally identifiable data and collected consents.

Definitions

(6) In this section,

"electronic document" means data that is recorded or stored on any medium in or by a computer system or other similar device and that can be read or perceived by a person or a computer system or other similar device, and includes a display,

printout or other output of that data; ("document électronique")

"electronic signature" means a signature that consists of one or more letters, characters, numbers or other symbols in digital form incorporated in, attached to or associated with an electronic document; ("signature électronique")

"personally identifiable data" means any data relating to an identified or identifiable individual who is the subject of the data. ("données personnelles identifiables")

4. (1) Subsection 10 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Disclosure of report

(1) Every person who refers to a consumer report in connection with any specified transaction or matter in which the person is engaged shall,

(

a) inform the consumer that a consumer report respecting him or her has been or is to be referred to;

(

b) provide the consumer with the name and address of the consumer reporting agency supplying the report; and

(

c) upon the consumer's request, provide the consumer with a copy of the consumer report, by mail or personal delivery, within 30 days of obtaining the report.

(2) Subsection 10 (2) of the Act is amended by striking out "where the consumer so requests" in the portion after clause (b).

(3) Subsection 10 (3) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Same

(3) If a person proposes to extend credit to a consumer and a consumer report containing only credit information is being or may be referred to in connection with the transaction, the person shall give notice of the fact to the

consumer in writing at the time of the application for credit and provide the name and address of the consumer reporting agency that will be supplying the report.

(4) Subsection 10 (5) of the Act is amended by striking out "unless the person notifies the consumer in writing at the time of the application for credit that the person intends to do so" at the end.

(5) Subsection 10 (7) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Adverse action

(7) If a benefit is denied to a consumer or a charge to a consumer is increased either wholly or partly because of information received from a consumer reporting agency or a person other than a consumer reporting agency, the user of

the information shall communicate the action to the consumer and at the time the action is communicated,

(

a) inform the consumer of the nature and source of the information, if it is furnished by a person other than a consumer reporting agency; or

(

b) deliver to the consumer a copy of the consumer report including the name and address of the consumer reporting agency, if the information is furnished by a consumer reporting agency.

Same

(8) The notice required under subsection (7) shall include notice of the consumer's right to correct any errors in the information received from a consumer reporting agency or a person other than a consumer reporting agency.

5. (1) Subsection 11 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Supplying list of names

(1) No person shall supply a list of names and criteria to a consumer reporting agency in order to obtain an indication of the names of the persons named in the list who meet the criteria unless,

(

a) the person first notifies in writing each person named on the list or about whom information is being obtained that such a list is being submitted or that information is being requested; and

(

b) the person provides the name and address of the consumer reporting agency involved.

(2) Subsection 11 (4) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Supplying list of criteria

(4) No consumer reporting agency that receives a list of names and criteria, or receives a request for names of persons so that information may be inferred about them, shall provide the name of any person without first notifying that

person in writing of the request and the name and address of the person making the request and obtaining consent to the request.

6. (1) Clause 12 (1) (

c) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(

c) the name, address and telephone number of every person on whose behalf the file has been accessed within the three-year period preceding the request;

(2) Clause 12 (1) (

d) of the Act is amended by adding "addresses and telephone numbers" after "the names" in the portion before subclause (i).

(3) Clause 12 (1) (

e) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(

e) copies of any written or electronically transmitted consumer report pertaining to the consumer made to any other person, furnished,

(

i) where the report contains personal information, within the one year period preceding the request, and

(ii) where the report contains credit information, within the six month period preceding the request,

and shall inform the consumer of hi

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	Bill 38, 38-2
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p38 s2 bill 38 html
Language	en
Format	html
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	bb60580042961698db56517adfcfcd8b7757cdb0

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