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IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

extremetech.com

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Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#61

Post by coldcode »

throwawaygh wrote: post #44

The article is about a post on the IMF's blog by Arnoud Boot, Peter Hoffmann, Luc Laeven, Lev Ratnovski [1], which itself is basically just summarizing a more detailed working paper by the same authors [2]. The working paper doesn't really contain any original research (at least on this topic); they cite a single paper by Tobias Berg, Valentin Burg, Ana Gombović, Manju Puri [3]. The IMF working paper/blog post conclu…

> the type of browser and hardware used to access the internet

Really? Assume people who still use IE6 on a late 1990s computer are too poor? My millionaire BIL would flunk that test.

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#62

Post by upearly3 »

lettergram wrote: post #47

Those over at https://patriots.win have been claiming this has been the plan for years. A slow move to a CCP style credit system and world government, led by the IMF (control through finances) and WHO (health experts managing governance) Even the vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway has said he wanted a Chinese style system (among many others): https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/30/investing/charlie-munger-chin... It’s been rea…

The simplest model I can think of goes like so:

. Do the ruling classes benefit?

. Is it practical/possible?

In any case, the easiest response is to remove yourself from the system as best as possible. Slowly getting grey'ed out by participating with the hivemind is no way to live.

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#63

Post by NoGravitas »

cmattoon wrote: post #17

A better conversation is whether IMF/credit scores deserve to exist in the first place. Didn't these geniuses JUST add field-specific search to SWIFT, so orders for "cubanos" don't get held up because of Cuba sanctions? Maybe these clueless old men should stick to what they know - mountains of physical paperwork and pointless policies and procedures, and stay away from anything that uses electricity or internet. Bitc…

> A better conversation is whether IMF/credit scores deserve to exist in the first place.

You're right about this. People's access to necessities like housing shouldn't depend on whether they are making money for the finance industry. And developing countries' access to the resources needed to improve the quality of life of their citizens shouldn't depend on making the development process profitable to US/European institutions.

> Bitcon/DeFi will render them obsolete in a few years' time anyway.

Unlikely. Bitcoin and other proof of work systems are likely to be banned in many places because of their environmental impact. And systems that survive that are likely to be banned as vehicles for financial fraud. The future of blockchain currencies is probably in making transactions more traceable to shut down tax avoidance schemes.

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#65

Post by imwillofficial »

Pmop wrote: post #49
throwawaygh wrote: post #44

The article is about a post on the IMF's blog by Arnoud Boot, Peter Hoffmann, Luc Laeven, Lev Ratnovski [1], which itself is basically just summarizing a more detailed working paper by the same authors [2]. The working paper doesn't really contain any original research (at least on this topic); they cite a single paper by Tobias Berg, Valentin Burg, Ana Gombović, Manju Puri [3]. The IMF working paper/blog post conclu…

I know "assume incompetence before evil intent" but all of this is so conveniently set up to be an instrument for oppressing and shutting down dissent.

Whoever came up with “assume incompetence before evil intent” was an evil mastermind.

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#66

Post by rootsudo »

javajosh wrote: post #16

Well of course! The real question is: what shouldn't impact your credit score? Any information you consume could potentially impact your ability to repay a debt - if you read the wrong book, see the wrong movie, visit the wrong person, any of these events could change your mind, and make you a less reliable credit risk. Reading the wrong web resources is a natural extension. (Because the actually crazy people have ki…

AFAIK, there are reporting systems in place at Libraries that flag your account if you check out media that is considered "not good."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_Awareness_Program

I ran into this myself, in my High-school Library and I'm sure may other children may have as well.

Not per se a social credit system, but, how different is it? One org/database, interpreted by people of org and then a similar enough inquisition/questioning of "why."

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#68

Post by lotsofcows »

bArray wrote: post #19

This is just yet another push by financial companies to impose on your freedom of speech. Why on earth do people keep pushing for private companies to become political activists? They have already come for individual bank accounts, in the UK for example an activist named 'Tommy Robinson' [1] is not allowed to open a bank account due to his politics [*]. "What business of mine is it So long they don’t take the yam Fro…

"Tommy Robinson is not allowed to open a bank account"? What? After multiple frauds and also declaring himself bankrupt he might have difficulty finding a bank willing to take him as a customer but I'm unaware of anyway of anyone banning him from opening one.

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#69

Post by motohagiography »

It's like we need eternal vigilence against people like this or something. There is always someone who thinks they have a technocratic solution that optimizes for their own interests and then litigates for it and encircles us while insisting it is in ours. Nobody subject to this proposed measure desires it.

Why on earth does the IMF, an organization staffed almost exclusively by academic economists and political appointees, think they have any expertise whatsoever in consumer credit decisions? These are people whose understanding of business stops at "getting funding," from presumed and paternalistic granting agencies. The entire premise of their organization was to use lending as a globalized policy leverage tool, to issue bad loans to weak governments for political reasons, and then demand policy concessions in exchange for renegotiation terms. These have always been really bad people.

It does suggest we need better p2p lending instruments, and really, anything that these organizations think they can do, we should probably be developing alternatives that limit their influence.

Re: IMF working paper suggests using browsing history in credit score calculations

#70

Post by randomdata »

bserge wrote: post #39
randomdata wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why shouldn't it? The credit score is a tool to provide a measure of how profitable you can be to lenders. If you're paying off loans, you are a less desirable customer than those who carry loans. The lower score reflects that.

This is the same system used for Internet contracts, buying work tools, renting apartments and buying houses. If you can afford those things more safely, you should be considered less desirable? Instead, it's the people who are likely to be in debt until death that are better? But I guess, yeah, fuck society, get rich while you can.

> If you can afford those things more safely, you should be considered less desirable?

If you can afford to leave, then yes, you are less desirable than someone who needs to stick around. These services are priced based on the assumption of long-term engagement. If you cut that assumption short, the expected revenue is also cut short.

Finding new customers is expensive. When you leave, the provider needs to find a new customer to replace you. They are much better off keeping existing customers. The credit score gives an indication of how likely one is to remain a customer. Those who are most likely to stick around are the best kind of customer.

When you paid off your loan, you also stopped paying the associated interest. In other words, you retracted your patronage and stopped being a customer. This is not desirable for a business. The credit score was reduced to reflect that. 60 points is very little movement. It is not like they're writing you off as a compete undesirable with that, just statistically slightly less desirable than someone who continued to borrow.

Remember who pays for credit score information: Lenders, not you. They are the customer. It is there to benefit them, not you.

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