How are credit reporting agencies such superb snoops?
August 9, 2011 10:05 AM Subscribe
How do credit reporting agencies know so much about me? I applied for a credit history (not report) with Equifax, and along with the actual credit history, they know (almost) all of my recent employers and all of my mailing addresses. I must have signed away my privacy rights to them at some point, so how do I make sure they don't get their grubby hands on all of this very PRIVATE data in the future?
I live in Canada which I believe makes a difference as far as privacy rights go (we supposedly have some privacy rights...)
Well, you don't sign up for a bank account or any credit cards or anything like that with a physical address. That's really all there is too it. You give them a place to mail it to? They have your address. Its really not super private information.
posted by stormygrey at 10:09 AM on August 9, 2011
posted by stormygrey at 10:09 AM on August 9, 2011
When you fill out a credit application that PRIVATE data is given to the credit bureau. That's how a credit history works.
posted by saradarlin at 10:11 AM on August 9, 2011
posted by saradarlin at 10:11 AM on August 9, 2011
In addition to your payment history your creditors pass along your address changes and employer information if you supplied it to them when you applied for credit or updated your account.
In theory, the only people that would have access to your credit file are your creditors and potential creditors that you have given explicit permission to see it. Your credit report should have an "inquiries" section that shows companies that have run your credit.
posted by birdherder at 10:12 AM on August 9, 2011
In theory, the only people that would have access to your credit file are your creditors and potential creditors that you have given explicit permission to see it. Your credit report should have an "inquiries" section that shows companies that have run your credit.
posted by birdherder at 10:12 AM on August 9, 2011
Response by poster: I guess I'm not used to information I've entered being collected and combined by a private organization... especially since things like my previous addresses definitely qualify as none of their business... current address I can understand (for debt collectors)... previous addresses.. hell no!
posted by Yowser at 10:17 AM on August 9, 2011
posted by Yowser at 10:17 AM on August 9, 2011
Keeping track of the full listing of addresses can actually be a useful thing for you too, when you consider that someone could apply for credit in your name but using their own address. Having every address that your credit has been attached to allows you to double-check the accuracy of the credit record.
posted by bizzyb at 10:26 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by bizzyb at 10:26 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
yowser, I'm not certain exactly who you believed kept tabs of your credit history. Equifax is that institution, as I believe.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:26 AM on August 9, 2011
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:26 AM on August 9, 2011
Yeah, this is pretty standard, and it's because they're, you know, keeping track of you. Which is what they do.
The addresses and employers are so that they know that the Yowser who used to live at 123 Fake St. in North Haverbrook is the same Yowser who currently lives at 456 Blank Rd. in Brockway, who's a different Yowser from the one who lives in Ogdenville.
posted by mskyle at 11:12 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
The addresses and employers are so that they know that the Yowser who used to live at 123 Fake St. in North Haverbrook is the same Yowser who currently lives at 456 Blank Rd. in Brockway, who's a different Yowser from the one who lives in Ogdenville.
posted by mskyle at 11:12 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
I disagree about the benefit of having old addresses on your credit report. I recommend that you ask to have them removed immediately. Having inaccurate addresses on your credit report could potentially allow the people who live there now to receive private information or communication, as well as the potential for identity thieves to use the addresses for nefarious purposes.
posted by doomtop at 11:19 AM on August 9, 2011
posted by doomtop at 11:19 AM on August 9, 2011
In the US I don't think where you live is considered private data, in fact I believe it is on the public record especially if you own property, so is your employment history.
Private stuff is your bank accounts (and balances), lines of credit, really any financial data except the value of the real property (land) you own. Don't be freaked out about this. It is the cost of living in the information age. Back when I work at a temp agency (20 years ago) I got send out to do background checks before the age of the internet as I was reasonably computer savvy and didnt have a criminal record (a rarity at this temp agency) and it is amazing the stuff someone can find out at the county courthouse for you (once again in the US, Canada may well be way different).
posted by bartonlong at 11:21 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Private stuff is your bank accounts (and balances), lines of credit, really any financial data except the value of the real property (land) you own. Don't be freaked out about this. It is the cost of living in the information age. Back when I work at a temp agency (20 years ago) I got send out to do background checks before the age of the internet as I was reasonably computer savvy and didnt have a criminal record (a rarity at this temp agency) and it is amazing the stuff someone can find out at the county courthouse for you (once again in the US, Canada may well be way different).
posted by bartonlong at 11:21 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
Actually, old addresses are pretty important. They're used by credit agencies and lenders to verify your identity, among other things. It's possible, but unlikely, that some other guy with your name lived at your address at one point, but it's very unlikely for two people with the same or similar names to share more than one address, especially at the same time and in the same order.
They're also used to prevent fraud. I can probably find your current address without too much difficulty using readily available internet resources. But finding out your address history will take a lot more digging. It's doable, but not for the casual.
posted by valkyryn at 11:28 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
They're also used to prevent fraud. I can probably find your current address without too much difficulty using readily available internet resources. But finding out your address history will take a lot more digging. It's doable, but not for the casual.
posted by valkyryn at 11:28 AM on August 9, 2011 [1 favorite]
The short answers on how info gets in there, based on my experience:
1. Companies that subscribe to the credit bureau (banks, department stores, etc.) provide the info. Addresses can come from current billing info, but otherwise it's going to be what you filled out on the credit application. So, the ultimate source in this case is...you.
2. Information could also come from public records, such as court judgments, but this seems to be much less common (and would only apply to people who have been sued, gone bankrupt, etc.).
3. It's also possible that a collection agency could report info on someone, if a debt has been referred to them.
Of these, 1 would happen automatically 99.999% of the time, 2 and 3 would happen automatically if there is electronic transfer of this info. I'm assuming anything that isn't automatically collected would be costly, and therefore would be unlikely to happen.
So if you don't want a certain prior address to show on your credit report, don't put it on credit applications, and it's almost guaranteed that it will not show. However, if you list it even once, and it gets in there, it may stay in there for a considerable time.
Someone else will have to comment on what protections are or aren't available for persons in Canada.
posted by gimonca at 3:16 PM on August 9, 2011
1. Companies that subscribe to the credit bureau (banks, department stores, etc.) provide the info. Addresses can come from current billing info, but otherwise it's going to be what you filled out on the credit application. So, the ultimate source in this case is...you.
2. Information could also come from public records, such as court judgments, but this seems to be much less common (and would only apply to people who have been sued, gone bankrupt, etc.).
3. It's also possible that a collection agency could report info on someone, if a debt has been referred to them.
Of these, 1 would happen automatically 99.999% of the time, 2 and 3 would happen automatically if there is electronic transfer of this info. I'm assuming anything that isn't automatically collected would be costly, and therefore would be unlikely to happen.
So if you don't want a certain prior address to show on your credit report, don't put it on credit applications, and it's almost guaranteed that it will not show. However, if you list it even once, and it gets in there, it may stay in there for a considerable time.
Someone else will have to comment on what protections are or aren't available for persons in Canada.
posted by gimonca at 3:16 PM on August 9, 2011
Also, none of that information is private. It can be found out via various public sources, and you gave the people you were doing business with that information.
posted by gjc at 5:58 PM on August 9, 2011
posted by gjc at 5:58 PM on August 9, 2011
I disagree about the benefit of having old addresses on your credit report. I recommend that you ask to have them removed immediately. Having inaccurate addresses on your credit report could potentially allow the people who live there now to receive private information or communication, as well as the potential for identity thieves to use the addresses for nefarious purposes.They are not inaccurate addresses, they are former addresses and are listed as such. Even if someone did send "private" information to an old address, which they don't, because the privacy laws are pretty clear about what info can and can't be on mailings, the current occupants would still need to be interested in and able to falsify a credit app.
posted by doomtop at 11:19 AM on August 9 [+] [!]
Actually, old addresses are pretty important. They're used by credit agencies and lenders to verify your identity, among other things. It's possible, but unlikely, that some other guy with your name lived at your address at one point, but it's very unlikely for two people with the same or similar names to share more than one address, especially at the same time and in the same order.Agree. I forget what I was actually trying to do, but I think it might have been trying to gain online access to my mortgage bank. Instead of having to sit of the phone with someone to set it up, it asked me a bunch of questions from my credit report. There were 5 or 7 steps of information that it asked to verify before it would let me online. By the end of it, there was literally NO WAY anyone besides me could know it. Nobody but me (and the other guy) knows about that thing I co-signed for. And therefore, nobody but me would know that there is a legit out of state address in my file. Lots of people know I bought a car, but how many know who I financed it with? Or what my previous cell provider was?
They're also used to prevent fraud. I can probably find your current address without too much difficulty using readily available internet resources. But finding out your address history will take a lot more digging. It's doable, but not for the casual.
posted by valkyryn at 11:28 AM on August 9 [+] [!]
There really is no better path to good security of one's credit than having the credit reporting bureaus doing their jobs and keeping accurate and detailed information about one's credit history.
And not for nothing, this is exactly what makes credit so easily available nowadays. In the good ol' days, you had to pack up the family and sit in some banker's office and give them all your info, and then 6 - 8 weeks later you'd get an answer after they called and verified all the info.
posted by gjc at 6:13 PM on August 9, 2011
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posted by InsanePenguin at 10:09 AM on August 9, 2011