Experian Sold Consumer Data to ID Theft Service

[fancy_pants]

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/experian-sold-consumer-data-to-id-theft-service/

For context
here's an Experian price list,  what the bad guys got for the trouble:
http://www.experian.com/assets/government/brochures/gsa-catalog.pdf

then here's what the good guys got for the trouble from the Experian Super Pac:
http://us-campaign-committees.findthedata.org/l/11950/Experian-North-America-Inc-Political-Action-Committee-experian-Pac

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[scarsbergholden]

mmmm, the smell of incompetence in the evening.

[theonewhowaskazu]

I don't really get how the credit rating companies can get away with being this incompetent for so long.

Why would the banks want to use them when they systematically screw up data, and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

[MAbtc]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

[theonewhowaskazu]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

[MAbtc]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

What? You can't "discontinue your dealings" with credit reporting agencies. That's not up to you. The file they maintain is based on data submitted from financial institutions, courts, employers. All you can do is ask for them to remove inaccurate information and dispute claims. Your data is theirs and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

[theonewhowaskazu]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

What? You can't "discontinue your dealings" with credit reporting agencies.

You can discontinue your dealings with the companies that deal with the credit reporting agencies. 

That's not up to you. The file they maintain is based on data submitted from financial institutions, courts, employers. All you can do is ask for them to remove inaccurate information and dispute claims. Your data is theirs and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Court info is public knowledge, the rest of it is up to you.

[MAbtc]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

What? You can't "discontinue your dealings" with credit reporting agencies.

You can discontinue your dealings with the companies that deal with the credit reporting agencies.  

That's not up to you. The file they maintain is based on data submitted from financial institutions, courts, employers. All you can do is ask for them to remove inaccurate information and dispute claims. Your data is theirs and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Court info is public knowledge, the rest of it is up to you.

Good luck going through life with no credit history, and with no dealings with financial institutions. If you ever need to take a loan or want to purchase a home -- good luck. And good luck finding an employer who doesn't report to CRAs.

So...I reiterate, it's specifically not up to me.

This reminds me of ancaps pushing "right of exit" -- "Well, if you don't like it, move somewhere else!" In real life, things don't work that way.

[theonewhowaskazu]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

What? You can't "discontinue your dealings" with credit reporting agencies.

You can discontinue your dealings with the companies that deal with the credit reporting agencies.  

That's not up to you. The file they maintain is based on data submitted from financial institutions, courts, employers. All you can do is ask for them to remove inaccurate information and dispute claims. Your data is theirs and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Court info is public knowledge, the rest of it is up to you.

Good luck going through life with no credit history, and with no dealings with financial institutions. If you ever need to take a loan or want to purchase a home -- good luck. And good luck finding an employer who doesn't report to CRAs.

So...I reiterate, it's specifically not up to me.

This reminds me of ancaps pushing "right of exit" -- "Well, if you don't like it, move somewhere else!" In real life, things don't work that way.

There are a lot of employers that don't report to credit raters. ~.~ Like, a lot.

As for financial institutions, its everyone here that is constantly bashing fractional reserve banking, if you don't like it then don't lend  to / borrow from them.

[MAbtc]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

What? You can't "discontinue your dealings" with credit reporting agencies.

You can discontinue your dealings with the companies that deal with the credit reporting agencies.  

That's not up to you. The file they maintain is based on data submitted from financial institutions, courts, employers. All you can do is ask for them to remove inaccurate information and dispute claims. Your data is theirs and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Court info is public knowledge, the rest of it is up to you.

Good luck going through life with no credit history, and with no dealings with financial institutions. If you ever need to take a loan or want to purchase a home -- good luck. And good luck finding an employer who doesn't report to CRAs.

So...I reiterate, it's specifically not up to me.

This reminds me of ancaps pushing "right of exit" -- "Well, if you don't like it, move somewhere else!" In real life, things don't work that way.

There are a lot of employers that don't report to credit raters. ~.~ Like, a lot.

As for financial institutions, its everyone here that is constantly bashing fractional reserve banking, if you don't like it then don't lend  to / borrow from them.

Employer info is about the only thing on the report that can't hurt you, really. But regardless, when you need employment, you can't really base that decision around whether or not they report to CRAs.

I'm saying to do what you're saying puts you at a great disadvantage should you need credit. And it's not as if one can buy a house with bitcoin. Maybe many years from now.

It just seems that this mentality isn't very realistic yet. You may as well be suggesting that people go live in the woods because they don't like society. That's all well and good, but it doesn't get us anywhere.

[theonewhowaskazu]

and why do consumers put up with it when they systematically leak info (not to mention screw up their data).

What are people gonna do, write their congressman? I'm sure they do. Take to the streets over credit reporting? I don't see it happening.

I think people are complacent about it at this point... it's so commonplace whether or not you take the CRAs into consideration.

What do their congressmen have to do with anything? You can't blame big government for this one (at least not directly). This is entirely an issue with a private business. If you don't like their practices, do exactly what the free market says you should and discontinue your dealings with them.

What? You can't "discontinue your dealings" with credit reporting agencies.

You can discontinue your dealings with the companies that deal with the credit reporting agencies.  

That's not up to you. The file they maintain is based on data submitted from financial institutions, courts, employers. All you can do is ask for them to remove inaccurate information and dispute claims. Your data is theirs and there ain't nothing you can do about it.

Court info is public knowledge, the rest of it is up to you.

Good luck going through life with no credit history, and with no dealings with financial institutions. If you ever need to take a loan or want to purchase a home -- good luck. And good luck finding an employer who doesn't report to CRAs.

So...I reiterate, it's specifically not up to me.

This reminds me of ancaps pushing "right of exit" -- "Well, if you don't like it, move somewhere else!" In real life, things don't work that way.

There are a lot of employers that don't report to credit raters. ~.~ Like, a lot.

As for financial institutions, its everyone here that is constantly bashing fractional reserve banking, if you don't like it then don't lend  to / borrow from them.

Employer info is about the only thing on the report that can't hurt you, really. But regardless, when you need employment, you can't really base that decision around whether or not they report to CRAs.

I'm saying to do what you're saying puts you at a great disadvantage should you need credit. And it's not as if one can buy a house with bitcoin. Maybe many years from now.

It just seems that this mentality isn't very realistic yet. You may as well be suggesting that people go live in the woods because they don't like society. That's all well and good, but it doesn't get us anywhere.

Look, I don't know if you're a libertarian or not.

All I know is that a lot of people are (myself included), yet I still see many of them complain about CRAs when literally they are a perfect example of the free market failing (although, it really doesn't make sense to me WHY its failing, considering if I were a bank I'd consider the CRA's info useless considering it has like a 30% error rate).

Also, I don't know about employers, but "we don't do a credit check or report to CRAs" is actually a major selling point for lenders. Thats sort of the entire reason why companies like World Finance can get away with charging their humongous rates.

[wasserman99]

Look, I don't know if you're a libertarian or not.

All I know is that a lot of people are (myself included), yet I still see many of them complain about CRAs when literally they are a perfect example of the free market failing (although, it really doesn't make sense to me WHY its failing, considering if I were a bank I'd consider the CRA's info useless considering it has like a 30% error rate).

Also, I don't know about employers, but "we don't do a credit check or report to CRAs" is actually a major selling point for lenders. Thats sort of the entire reason why companies like World Finance can get away with charging their humongous rates.

dude youre getting all atlas shrugged with this shit

what free market? (really?) let's start with barriers to entry. big 3 cras are written into law.

and how is it a perfect example of the free market failing? you didnt explain this. particularly how it is a free market to begin with.

what data would you expect banks to consider useful? why don't they opt to? maybe youre missing some pieces there.

lol @ " "we don't do a credit check or report to CRAs" is actually a major selling point for lenders." -- its a selling point for usurious lenders who prey on poor people, and the only people that fall for that shit are extremely poor and financially unsustainable people. any person who is in any way economically viable would be retarded to ever borrow from a company that doesnt credit check. you would have to be extremely stupid or desperate. is that really your argument?