Experian links up with property Web sites

NEWS Data company Experian has made a series of deals with consumer Web sites to provide local information to homemovers. Agreements have been struck with easier.co.uk, Fish4, Homemovers and Scoot.co.uk that will allow the property search Web sites to share Experian's databanks of consumer demographics, neighbourhood and property information. Users of these sites will be able to search for information on any area they're considering moving to. The deal will also allow Experian's content partners to use the data for marketing research and targeting. As well as property Web sites, Experian will be targeting other service companies, such as those in the financial sector. Bruno Rost, a spokesman for Experian, said the data that will be sold is limited to postcode level and therefore excludes the dangers of data protection infringements. "We have a close working relationship with the Data Protection Registrar [DPR] and consult them at every stage of our business development," he said. Yaman Akdeniz, director of the lobby group Cyber Rights & Cyber Liberties, said working with the DPR is useful for a company wishing to remain inside the realms of data protection law. However, he said users and companies involved with data sharing organisations should further investigate protection set-ups.