Three Credit Agencies Agree to Protect Privacy : Information: The FTC alleged reports were being seen by people without a legitimate right to them. Settlement spells out steps to prevent security breaches.

Two Orange County credit reporting services, along with an Ohio company, have agreed to a settlement aimed at preventing breaches of personal privacy, the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday.

The FTC had alleged that the three companies failed to prevent individuals’ credit reports from being reviewed by people who had no legitimate reason to see them. The companies--Information Resource Service Co. in Fullerton, CDB Infotek in Orange and Inter-fact Inc. in Maple Heights, Ohio--admitted no wrongdoing. The settlement, which describes steps that the companies must take to prevent any further security breaches, includes no fines.

All are so-called “super-bureaus,” which buy and sell personal financial data. They operate as a liaison between the massive data bases of the nationwide credit bureaus, such as TRW Inc. in Orange, and credit grantors such as department stores, credit-card companies and car dealers.

Critics have charged that super-bureaus are lax in checking out potential business customers to make sure that they have a legitimate need for the consumer information. Too often, according to critics, private investigators, political saboteurs and others violate federal law by using credit records to try to uncover individuals’ habits and misdeeds.

For instance, a Business Week editor who wanted to point up the abuses reported a couple of years ago that he had no trouble obtaining a super-bureau account that he then used to examine the credit record of Vice President Dan Quayle. To prove that the system has not improved, he recently gained access to the credit history of TV news anchorman Dan Rather.

The FTC said its charges resulted from an investigation that began two years ago. The action was intended “as a warning shot” to the industry that the FTC takes seriously its responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, said Barry J. Cutler, director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection.

Sharon Guenther, vice president of Information Resource Service, said Tuesday that her company took immediate action after the FTC began its investigation. To prevent unauthorized disclosures, she said, the company uses signed statements, audits and occasional personal interviews with customers.

“We have been complying with it,” she said of the credit-reporting law.

Spokespersons for the other two companies could not be reached Tuesday for comment.