Saturday, March 18, 2006

Credit reporting agencies against protections

Just in case you thought credit reporting agencies were Your Friend:

In a dozen states, legislatures have set up procedures for residents afraid of identity theft to lock and unlock their credit reports.

But credit-reporting agencies are pushing Congress to override the state laws, which could make it harder for Americans to keep their credit information under wraps.

[...]

The agencies [dislike] laws like New Jersey's because they fear that making it too easy to lock a credit report may ruin their business in the way that the Do Not Call list decimated the phone solicitation business. The companies' main business is selling credit information to potential lenders, insurers and even employers. (NY Times)

It seems that you don't own your credit history: the agencies do. And if the agencies' making it available to anyone that requests it allows someone to steal your identity, tough.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, that's an eye opener. It's a little scary that we don't have any say over something that we must have in order to survive in America.... Okay, you CAN get by without credit history, so long as you don't want a house or apartment, a bank account, the ability to write checks, cable TV, a debit card, any utility, or a phone. Oh, and you'll need to be paid in cash, which you will need to keep on your person or hide under a rock someplace. Yikes!

Anonymous said...

That's amazing. I still do not understand why those phone solicitators feel they have a right to bug you day and night offering some crappy stuff.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, and those 'nice ladies' calling asking for donations...