(Im)positive Register: Know which data of yours is the Central Bank sharing

As a follow-up to the previous post, with help from Bruno Morassutti from Fiquem Sabendo, we found out that the entirety of the agreements between Brazil’s Central Bank (BCB) and the credit reporting agencies is available at the institution’s website transparency section. They all have the same content, except for the identification of the credit reporting agency, the respective internal department and signatories. All five also share the same day of signature: September 4th, 2023. Here are the links to each one of them:

• Agreement with Boa Vista Serviços S.A.
• Agreement with QUOD Gestora de Inteligência de Crédito S.A.
• Agreement with Serasa S.A.
• Agreement with SPC Brasil
• Agreement with TransUnion Brasil Sistemas em Informática Ltda

Data that the credit reporting agencies are sending BCB

The credit reporting agencies send the following data to the BCB, as described in the second clause of the agreement. The first data exchange will provide data relative to the preceding 12 months.

Monthly

• information on all your payments of facilities’ bills
  • water and sewage
  • electricity
  • gas
  • telecommunications

Quarterly

• your credit score

Data that the BCB sends the credit reporting agencies

The BCB will send monthly the following data to the credit reporting agencies, as set forth in the third clause of the agreement. The first data exchange will provide data relative to the preceding 24 months.

• bank client’s identification, client type and date of beginning of relationship with the bank
• any contracted credit, including identification of the financial institution, type of operation, contract number, value, date of contracting and due dates and number of payments contracted
• any property pledged as collateral, including type and quantity
• accounting data on the credit operation, including outstanding balance, the value and due date of the next payment

How to oppose the data transfer

If you are a Brazilian citizen and would like to object to the transfer of your data, your only recourse is by formally manifesting your opposition directly to any of the credit reporting agencies themselves.

You can do that online, by phone, by letter or even in person. But all of them demand that you give them a lot of personal information and documents, supposedly so that they can identify you – even though they demand a lot more documents and information than would be sufficient to identify someone. Just presenting any official document with the CPF number should be enough for that. However, there are reported cases in which they also demand a phone number, e-mail, home address, date of birth, place of birth, parents’ names, a selfie, and more.