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with every credit card , loan , etc you give consent for the release of that info . it is not without your consent . it is right there in the documents you sign and agree to .
it is no different than the health data banks that store info on every lab test you ever had if it went through insurance . you agreed to that too .
I just looked at my credit card agreement, and stand by my original comment. Nowhere does it say that I authorize a Credit Reporting Agency to accumulate personal financial information about me and store it on a database.
The agreement does say that the credit card company may access data about me, from a reporting agency, and it also says that the credit card company may provide the agency specific information about my account regarding late payments, returned payments, overlimit amounts, and other violations of the agreement. That's all the information they can provide according to the agreement.
I don't have a loan document to look at, because I don't borrow money (weird, huh?), but I would assume that the wording regarding personal information is similar. You authorize them to access information already accumulated about you, and you authorize them to tell the agency if you haven't made your payments.
So, if you're applying for a loan or credit card for the first time in your life, there shouldn't be any data on the Equifax server about you at all, right? And even you have a credit card, or have had a loan, but have always made your payments, as have I, there should still be no financial data saved on an Equifax server.
The hospital I just had surgery uses ss numbers as patient ids. Congress needs to put a stop to anyone using Ss for identifying purposes. I've tried to get through to other reporting agencies to put a credit freeze and was only successful with one. I imagine their systems are overloaded at this point.
I wouldn't sign up for their protection plan...kind of like the fox guarding the henhouse! I don't have any faith in Equifax.
143 millions - this is basically all working population, if you subtract children and voluntary unemployed. It is astounding. All the US working population could be replicated in some other countries.
I just looked at my credit card agreement, and stand by my original comment. Nowhere does it say that I authorize a Credit Reporting Agency to accumulate personal financial information about me and store it on a database.
The agreement does say that the credit card company may access data about me, from a reporting agency, and it also says that the credit card company may provide the agency specific information about my account regarding late payments, returned payments, overlimit amounts, and other violations of the agreement. That's all the information they can provide according to the agreement.
I don't have a loan document to look at, because I don't borrow money (weird, huh?), but I would assume that the wording regarding personal information is similar. You authorize them to access information already accumulated about you, and you authorize them to tell the agency if you haven't made your payments.
So, if you're applying for a loan or credit card for the first time in your life, there shouldn't be any data on the Equifax server about you at all, right? And even you have a credit card, or have had a loan, but have always made your payments, as have I, there should still be no financial data saved on an Equifax server.
doing some research i see you can thank the federal gov't . they gave them the consent.
those who report to the agencies are members of these organizations and can freely share information about your want and ability to pay .
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The FCRA was passed to address a growing credit reporting industry in the United States that compiled "consumer credit reports" and "investigative consumer reports" on individuals. The FCRA was the first federal law to regulate the use of personal information by private businesses.
The first major credit reporting agency, Retail Credit Co, was started in 1899. Over the years, Retail Credit purchased smaller CRAs and expanded its business into selling reports to insurers and employers.
This is not exactly correct, IF you do what you should. I am a very recent victim of identity theft (in the last month) including my name, address and full social security number. The credit reporting agencies can't permanently ding your credit history if you do everything you should upon finding out you are the victim of theft and banks, etc. are required to work to repair the mistakes.
Things I've learned one must do: Contact all reporting 3 agencies and request a fraud alert be added to your history; report it to the FTC; file a police report IF the number is used; and report it to the appropriate state agency. Obviously contact the bank or institution that allowed your number to be used.
The fraud alert should be free. We added a credit freeze to my account. It's also cheap to do, and I have no need for additional credit right now. I live in one of 2 states that the credit freeze is free to do for victims of identity theft. We also purchased an identity theft protection plan from another company. It helps that I have a Discover card. Discover will now alert you if your SS number is used for credit purposes.
I do have a major problem with Equifax though. Their website does not allow you to check if you are one of the victims. It just signs you up for the ID theft when you click through. I didn't need that as I already have it. They also do not intend to inform all of the victims. That is huge problem!
Based on my recent experience it's not just credit cards that are opened with SS #'s. My thieves opened up multiple cellular accounts in my name. Fortunately I became aware of it within about a week of it happening.
I hear what you're saying and thats true if you find out asap that you've been hacked. Problem is some may not know for months or even years with this hack as there's a good possibility our info could be used in another country. I've had my CC hacked a few times and it was no big deal. They froze my card,took the charges off and issued me a new one. This won't be that simple. Offering a 1 year ID protection is BS seeing this could affect you for the rest of your life!
Heres something interesting!
The same Equifax site that you put your info in to see if you've been hacked. Well someone just for fun put in Test as their name and 123456 as their SS# and it came up that they "may have been impacted". I tried this with the same results. I'd stay far away from Equifax right now!
Quote:
Earlier, in a tweet from a tipster, we noticed that you can enter some clearly incorrect information into the checker. We entered "Test" as the surname and "123456" as the social security number.
The system validated the entry and said that the person "may have been impacted."
If you sign up 143 million Americans and an undisclosed number of non-Americans for a "monitoring" service that monitors your own database mostly and that service ends after a year, you have 143 million monitored people you can "advise" or scare into continuing the monitoring on a paid basis after that year. You may have a stock ding but only temporary as you have now created an expanded business through no fault but your own. A win?
Oh my, me and my conspiracy everywhere personality are at it again.
If you sign up 143 million Americans and an undisclosed number of non-Americans for a "monitoring" service that monitors your own database mostly and that service ends after a year, you have 143 million monitored people you can "advise" or scare into continuing the monitoring on a paid basis after that year. You may have a stock ding but only temporary as you have now created an expanded business through no fault but your own. A win?
Oh my, me and my conspiracy everywhere personality are at it again.
My credit card accounts have been hacked more times than I can count and I've always signed up for the free credit monitoring service they offer. It's free for the year but none of them have pushed their services beyond that free year. But, you make a good point. I'm sure it does scare some into continuing their service.
fidelity has a team of hackers who regularly scan the dark web for fidelity client account info
they shut our accounts down instantly last year when they found my wifes account and password for sale . she never logs in on line so that was spooky.
there is nothing we can do except go on with our lives normally as this stuff is always going on and always will .
keep in mind , all this credit monitoring and freeze's only works with consumer credit . if someone takes a business loan out using your data the big three agencies are not involved .
commercial credit has different agencies involved like d&b .
It's good to know that Fidelity does that.
And I figure that my SSN is already everywhere. Just think of all those people in a medical office who can see it.
My credit card number has been stolen multiple times and my bank always calls me and I change the number.
Home Depot, Target, the place I buy dog food, I've been caught in all of those. I still get a free monitoring and I don't even remember which one that came from.
A one year service is pretty useless. I would not give up my right to join a class action suit for it. If I didn't already have the free service, I would rather just pay for a year myself.
Equifax did tell me my info was compromised, but now I'm wondering if that is even true. Do they even know? And how would they know?
Last edited by Windwalker2; 09-09-2017 at 04:55 PM..
Reason: Added last line
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