A consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report only for specified purposes, and a person who uses a consumer's Social Security number to obtain a report must include that number with the request and future reports unless it is believed inaccurate.
Sec. 20.02. PERMISSIBLE PURPOSES; PROHIBITION; USE OF CONSUMER'S SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. (a) A consumer reporting agency may furnish a consumer report only: (1) in response to a court order issued by a court with proper jurisdiction; (2) in accordance with the written instructions of the consumer to whom the report relates; or (3) to a person the agency has reason to believe: (A) intends to use the information in connection with a transaction involving the extension of credit to, or review or collection of an account of, the consumer to whom the report relates; (B) intends to use the information for employment purposes as authorized under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1681 et seq.), as amended, and regulations adopted under that Act; (C) intends to use the information in connection with the underwriting of insurance involving the consumer as authorized under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1681 et seq.), as amended, and regulations adopted under that Act; (D) intends to use the information in connection with a determination of the consumer's eligibility for a license or other benefit granted by a governmental entity required by law to consider an applicant's financial responsibility or status; (E) has a legitimate business need for the information in connection with a business transaction involving the consumer; or (F) intends to use the information for any purpose authorized under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1681 et seq.), as amended, and regulations adopted under that Act. (b) A consumer reporting agency may not prohibit a user of a consumer report or investigative consumer report from disclosing the contents of the report or providing a copy of the report to the consumer to whom it relates at the consumer's request if adverse action against the consumer based wholly or partly on the report has been taken or is contemplated by the user of the report. A user of a consumer report or a consumer reporting agency may not be found liable or otherwise held responsible for a disclosed or copied report when acting under this subsection. The disclosure or copy of the report, by itself, does not make a user of the report a consumer reporting agency. (c) If a consumer furnishes the consumer's social security number to a person for use in obtaining a consumer report, the person shall include the consumer's social security number with the request for the consumer report and shall include the social security number with all future reports of information regarding the consumer made by the person to a consumer reporting agency unless the person has reason to believe that the social security number is inaccurate. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1396, Sec. 33(a), eff. Oct. 1, 1997. Assigned by Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 64 (S.B. 60), Sec. 2, eff. January 1, 2014.