The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
washingtonpost.com
The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
1–10 of 313 posts
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#2'And 5 percent had errors that could be devastating, potentially denying lines of credit to them and making things like auto insurance prohibitively expensive. “To have that error level, it’s akin to 5 percent of automobiles spontaneously accelerating and having an accident, or 5 percent of planes falling from the sky,” Wu says. “We wouldn’t accept that error rate in other areas.”'
This is a dishonest statement. Having your insurance be slightly higher isn't nearly as serious as having your plane fall out of the sky. And if only 5% of software had bugs, we'd call it one of mankind's greatest triumphs.
The only thing in this article that concerns me is this statement:
"Those two states denied his application after he failed a credit check[...]"
The government shouldn't be allowed to depend on private companies to approve or reject you in this manner, because then a company like Experian is - in a small way - deciding the law. And Experian in particular is a foreign corporation(headquartered in Ireland), so it's doubly-problematic.
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#3How much is this connected to not having a real id card?
For me is always weird when you see things like "no flight lists" and it is just a list of names. In Spain or Sweden your ID will be listed and the rest of people named like you spared of being harassed.
Another concept that I don't understand is that USA's social security number has to be kept secret or otherwise your identity can be stolen. How that is even possible? Doesn't your employer needs it?
An ID card is not perfect. 40 years ago Spain issued some duplicated numbers, before computers were so prevalent, causing problems. But it solves a lot of problems.
It always seems that private and public bureaucracy in the States is worst that it needs to be.
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#4The credit reporting system probably wouldn't work if you had to have the account holder's 'permission' to add events to it - you have to do it in this automated way.
Although it can be a pain, the responsibility of if your credit report is accurate falls on you, the consumer. You should many of the free services to check your credit and then dispute any events that aren't correct. Most people don't have issues but you can have companies that don't report payoffs (they should be fined or something), companies that assign accounts to the wrong person/SSN, etc.
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#5How much is this connected to not having a real id card? For me is always weird when you see things like "no flight lists" and it is just a list of names. In Spain or Sweden your ID will be listed and the rest of people named like you spared of being harassed. Another concept that I don't understand is that USA's social security number has to be kept secret or otherwise your identity can be stolen. How that is even p…
While this makes perfect sense and works great in the rest of the world, ID numbers in the US have been talked about, but have faced resistance from two groups.. those that think that this is somehow an invasion of privacy, and those that think that this somehow correlates with the 'mark of the beast' and signals the end of humanity according to the bible. (not joking)
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#6The credit reporting system probably wouldn't work if you had to have the account holder's 'permission' to add events to it - you have to do it in this automated way. Although it can be a pain, the responsibility of if your credit report is accurate falls on you, the consumer. You should many of the free services to check your credit and then dispute any events that aren't correct. Most people don't have issues but y…
I thought you only get 1 free credit report per year?
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#7How much is this connected to not having a real id card? For me is always weird when you see things like "no flight lists" and it is just a list of names. In Spain or Sweden your ID will be listed and the rest of people named like you spared of being harassed. Another concept that I don't understand is that USA's social security number has to be kept secret or otherwise your identity can be stolen. How that is even p…
>> How much is this connected to not having a real id card?
Each state has it's own Drivers License and usually a very similar card that is simply for ID. Many places such as banks or cell phone companies will request your drivers license or ID # in addition to your Social Security # to open an account.
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#8The credit reporting system probably wouldn't work if you had to have the account holder's 'permission' to add events to it - you have to do it in this automated way. Although it can be a pain, the responsibility of if your credit report is accurate falls on you, the consumer. You should many of the free services to check your credit and then dispute any events that aren't correct. Most people don't have issues but y…
I thought you only get 1 free credit report per year?
Once per year per agency, which gives you three (I think?) total reports per year.
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#9How much is this connected to not having a real id card? For me is always weird when you see things like "no flight lists" and it is just a list of names. In Spain or Sweden your ID will be listed and the rest of people named like you spared of being harassed. Another concept that I don't understand is that USA's social security number has to be kept secret or otherwise your identity can be stolen. How that is even p…
Another concept that I don't understand is that USA's social security number has to be kept secret or otherwise your identity can be stolen. How that is even possible? Doesn't your employer needs it?
Yes, as well as utilities, banks, insurers, hospitals, etc, etc. Treating the SSN as a password is idiotic, to the point where I almost wish Anonymous or someone would publish every American's number so that we'd be forced to stop doing it.
Re: The careless errors of credit reporting agencies
#10The credit reporting system probably wouldn't work if you had to have the account holder's 'permission' to add events to it - you have to do it in this automated way. Although it can be a pain, the responsibility of if your credit report is accurate falls on you, the consumer. You should many of the free services to check your credit and then dispute any events that aren't correct. Most people don't have issues but y…
Although it can be a pain, the responsibility of if your credit report is accurate falls on you, the consumer.
I can only be responsible for the things I do. If some shithead wants to give third-party information about me it better be accurate, and if its inaccuracy causes me harm it should be actionable.