[closeparen]

A quick Google search suggests that the Bank of France itself tracks defaults.

As I understand it, the American weirdness is that this is a private sector function rather than a service of the state. Not that it exists.

[progval]

Yes, and it only tracks defaults; and you're notified 30 days before being added to the file. And you are removed from the file as soon as you repaid what you owed.

Source: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F17608

That's nowhere near the amount of data Equifax collects.