I'm no expert, but seems like a big deal for all Android phones to report to a major credit bureau that determines whether you can rent an apartment, buy a house, get a job, a promotion, etc.

Not only that

a) It's mandatory, not something you can turn off. Unless you want no apps on your phone.

b) There is no error message saying "Could not connect to Equifax." It just asks if you want to "Retry" starting the app.