Experian Marketing Services

DATA BROKERS

LAST UPDATED 27 JUL 2026

OF 100

PARANOIA SCORE

WHAT THE POLICIES SAY

Experian Marketing Services (EMS), described in its own materials as a division of Experian Limited within the Experian plc group, processes contact, communication, payment, device and cookie-derived data to support targeted marketing, email and cross-channel advertising products for business clients. Experian's privacy documentation discloses sharing of personal data with lenders, brokers and marketing clients, and Experian entities have been subject to U.S. regulatory and multistate enforcement actions concerning email marketing practices and a data-broker acquisition (Court Ventures) that allowed unauthorized access to consumer records. Corporate ownership is disclosed in Experian's own policy documents and in a state data-broker registry, though third-party trackers such as Privacy Rights Clearinghouse list its opt-out availability as unclear.

TRACK RECORD

1 BREACH · 2 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

BREACH LEDGER

[2015-09-16] · BREACH

Have I Been Pwned lists a breach record for Experian Marketing Services: "Experian (2015)".

UNVERIFIED PER HIBP

Approximately 7,196,890 accounts affected, per HIBP.

Exposed: Credit status information, Dates of birth, Email addresses, Ethnicities, Family structure, Genders, Home ownership statuses, Income levels, IP addresses, Names, Phone numbers, Physical addresses, Purchasing habits.

haveibeenpwned.com ↗

Breach data: Have I Been Pwned (haveibeenpwned.com), CC BY 4.0

ENFORCEMENT

[2023-08-14]

On August 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice and FTC announced a stipulated settlement in which Experian Consumer Services, an Experian plc affiliate, agreed to a permanent injunction and a $650,000 civil penalty for allegedly sending marketing emails without a working opt-out mechanism, in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

justice.gov ↗

[2022-11-07]

On November 7, 2022, a multistate group of state attorneys general announced a $1 million settlement with Experian Data Corp for failing to warn affected consumers after learning that an identity thief posing as a private investigator had retrieved sensitive personal information from the Court Ventures database that Experian had acquired.

ncdoj.gov ↗

TIMELINE

NO ENTRIES ON FILE YET.

ULTIMATE PARENT

OFFICIALS ON FILE

9 ON FILE

Receipted federal filings: FEC campaign-finance records and LDA lobbying disclosures. A tie is a disclosed transaction or filing, not a claim of influence or wrongdoing.

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

EXPERIAN NORTH AMERICA reported lobbying activity before the Senate on CSP-coded issues, where the official serves on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, per LDA Form LD-2.

lda.gov ↗

TOOLS WE RECOMMEND

PLUS

RECEIPTS

12 ON FILE

COLLECTION

The Experian Marketing Services (EMS) UK privacy policy states that EMS collects contact details, communication records, payment and bank details, security credentials, and device and usage information, including data from cookies.

experian.co.uk ↗

COLLECTION

Experian Marketing Solutions' Data Practices Notice describes itself as a 'leading global provider of consumer data and insights' used to help client organizations engage consumers across all marketing channels.

experian.com ↗

OWNERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's registry entry for Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. confirms the entity has registered as a data broker with the Vermont Secretary of State and lists a corporate mailing address and contact.

privacyrights.org ↗

OWNERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

Experian's own EMS privacy policy discloses that Experian Marketing Services is organized as a division of Experian Limited, a UK-registered company that is part of the wider Experian plc corporate group.

experian.co.uk ↗

[2023-08-14] · OWNERSHIP TRANSPARENCY

A U.S. Department of Justice press release on a 2023 CAN-SPAM settlement clarifies that Experian Consumer Services and Experian Information Solutions Inc. (which offers marketing services) share a common corporate parent, Experian plc.

justice.gov ↗

SHARING

Experian Marketing Solutions' Data Practices Notice states that when it processes personal information as a service provider for client businesses, the handling of that data is governed by the client's own privacy policy and contractual terms rather than by Experian's notice directly.

experian.com ↗

SHARING

Experian's consumer privacy policy discloses that, in connection with comparison and pre-qualification services, personal data may be shared with lenders or brokers returned as part of a consumer's search, for those parties' own analysis and product development.

experian.co.uk ↗

SHARING

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's data broker registry entry classifies Experian Marketing Solutions, Inc. as a marketing data broker and lists whether the broker allows consumer opt-out as unclear.

privacyrights.org ↗

[2015-07-21] · TRACK RECORD

Reporting on the Court Ventures-related identity theft scheme cites Department of Justice figures indicating that 13,673 U.S. citizens whose personal information was exposed through the Court Ventures database, acquired by Experian in 2012, were victimized through fraudulent tax filings totaling roughly $65 million.

krebsonsecurity.com ↗

[2022-11-07] · TRACK RECORD

ncdoj.gov ↗

[2023-08-14] · TRACK RECORD

justice.gov ↗

TRACKING TECH

Experian's consumer-facing privacy policy (which describes data also received by Experian Marketing Services) discloses that Experian may track user interactions across its websites, apps and marketing emails, with further detail provided in a separate cookies and online marketing policy.

experian.co.uk ↗

DATA SOURCES

Have I Been Pwned (haveibeenpwned.com)

CC BY 4.0 · HAVEIBEENPWNED.COM ↗

Claims are summarized from these sources and may be edited from the original.

LAST REVIEWED 2026-07-27 · METHODOLOGY v1.7