Trans Union Corp. v. Federal Trade Commission

245 F.3d 809, 345 U.S. App. D.C. 301, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 6241
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedApril 13, 2001
DocketNo. 00-1141
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 245 F.3d 809 (Trans Union Corp. v. Federal Trade Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trans Union Corp. v. Federal Trade Commission, 245 F.3d 809, 345 U.S. App. D.C. 301, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 6241 (D.C. Cir. 2001).

Opinion

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge TATEL.

TATEL, Circuit Judge:

Petitioner, a consumer reporting agency, sells lists of names and addresses to target marketers — companies and organizations that contact consumers with offers of products and services. The Federal Trade Commission determined that these lists were “consumer reports” under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and thus could no longer be sold for target marketing purposes. ' Challenging this determination, petitioner argues that the Commission’s decision is unsupported by substantial evidence and that the Act itself is unconstitutional. Because we find both arguments without merit, we deny the petition for review.

I

Petitioner Trans Union sells two types of products. First, as a credit reporting agency, it compiles credit reports about individual consumers from credit information it collects from banks, credit card [812]*812companies, and other lenders. It then sells these credit reports to lenders, employers, and insurance companies. Trans Union receives credit information from lenders in the form of “tradelines.” A tradeline typically includes a customer’s name, address, date of birth, telephone number, Social Security number, account type, opening date of account, credit limit, account status, and payment history. Trans Union receives 1.4 to 1.6 billion records per month. The company’s credit database contains information on 190 million adults.

Trans Union’s second set of products— those at issue in this case — are known as target marketing products. These consist of lists of names and addresses of individuals who meet specific criteria such as possession of an auto loan, a department store credit card, or two or more mortgages. Marketers purchase these lists, then contact the individuals by mail or telephone to offer them goods and services. To create its target marketing lists, Trans Union maintains a database known as Master-File, a subset of its consumer credit database. MasterFile consists of information about every consumer in the company’s credit database who has (A) at least two tradelines with activity during the previous six months, or (B) one tradeline with activity during the previous six months plus an address confirmed by an outside source. The company compiles target marketing lists by extracting from MasterFile the names and addresses of individuals with characteristics chosen by list purchasers. For example, a department store might buy a list of all individuals in a particular area code who have both a mortgage and a credit card with a $10,000 limit. Although target marketing lists contain only names and addresses, purchasers know that every person on a list has the characteristics they requested because Trans Union uses those characteristics as criteria for culling. individual files from its database. Purchasers also know that every individual on a target marketing list satisfies the criteria for inclusion in MasterFile.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 (“FCRA”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681, 1681a-1681u, regulates consumer reporting agencies like Trans Union, imposing various obligations to protect the privacy and accuracy of credit information. The Federal Trade Commission, acting pursuant to its authority to enforce the FCRA, see 15 U.S.C. § 1681s(a), determined that Trans Union’s target marketing lists were “consumer reports” subject to the Act’s limitations. The FCRA defines “consumer report” as:

[A]ny written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer’s eligibility for—
(A) credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes;
(B) employment purposes; or
(C) any other purpose authorized under section 1681b of this title.

15 U.S.C. § 1681a(d)(l). Finding that the information Trans Union sold was “collected in whole or in part by [Trans Union] with the expectation that it would be used by credit grantors for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer’s eligibility for one of the transactions set forth in the FCRA,” and concluding that target marketing is not an authorized use of consumer reports under section 1681b, In re Trans Union Corp., 118 [813]*813F.T.C.' 821, 891 (1994), the Commission ordered Trans Union to stop selling target marketing lists, id. at 895.

Trans Union petitioned for review. In Trans Union Corp. v. FTC, 81 F.3d 228 (D.C.Cir.1996) {“Trans Union I”), we agreed with the Commission that selling consumer reports for target marketing violates the Act. Id. at 233-34. We nevertheless set aside the Commission’s determination that Trans Union’s target marketing lists amounted to consumer reports. Id. at 231-33. The Commission, we held, failed to justify its finding that Trans Union’s lists, by conveying the mere fact that consumers had a tradeline, were communicating information collected for the purpose of determining credit eligibility. We found that the Commission had failed to provide evidence to support the proposition that “the mere existence of a tradeline, as distinguished from payment history organized thereunder,” was used for credit-granting decisions or was intended or expected to be used for such decisions. Id. at 233. (The parties' arguments in Trans Union I and in the proceedings on remand focused on the relevance of the information in the company’s lists to consumer eligibility for credit; accordingly, the information’s relevance to the other uses the statute lists — such as determining eligibility for insurance and employment — are not at issue in this case. See In re Trans Union Corp., Opinion of the Commission, No. 9255, slip op. at 16 n.20 (Feb. 10, 2000) {“FTC Opinion”).)

On remand, following extensive discovery, more than a month of trial proceedings, and an initial decision by an Administrative Law Judge, the Commission found that Trans Union’s target marketing lists contain information that credit grantors use as factors in granting credit. Accordingly, the Commission concluded, the lists are “consumer reports” that Trans Union may not sell for target marketing purposes. FTC Opinion at 33. The Commission also rejected Trans Union’s argument that such a restriction would violate its First Amendment rights. Applying intermediate scrutiny, the Commission found that the government has a substantial interest in protecting private credit information, that the FCRA directly advances that interest, and that the Act’s restrictions on speech are narrowly tailored. Id. at 37-52.

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Bluebook (online)
245 F.3d 809, 345 U.S. App. D.C. 301, 2001 U.S. App. LEXIS 6241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trans-union-corp-v-federal-trade-commission-cadc-2001.