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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

#101

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 in…

> > 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.

While there's definitely issues with how credit scores are implemented, it's absolutely essential for something like them to exist. People who habitually default on their debts shouldn't be able to keep borrowing money as easily as the rest of us.

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

#102
post #60

From the IMF blog post[1]: > Even a well-paid expatriate moving to the United States can be caught in the conundrum of not getting a credit card for lack of credit record, and not having a credit record for lack of credit cards. > Fintech resolves the dilemma by tapping various nonfinancial data: the type of browser and hardware used to access the internet, the history of online searches and purchases. I enjoy the fr…

The fact that the IMF thinks your choice of operating system should impact your creditworthiness is something I've been warning people about for months because it shows why we need cosmopolitan software. Since it's nice to have the ability to pick up and move our apps elsewhere should we discover we're using the "wrong" one. Because political winds change, but good engineering endures. https://github.com/jart/cosmopolitan

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

#103

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 eno…

[deleted]

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

#104

Credit scores are so fundamentally broken anyway. In financial analysis of a company, the number one item you tend to look at is "free cash flow" - the "cash available for the company to repay creditors or pay dividends and interest to investors." [1] Why then do we not take income into account in credit worthiness? Why do I not periodically upload my W2 or tax return to the credit bureaus in order to show that yes,…

The way I understand this system is that you have to buy your credit score. Borrow a little, pay interest, so that you can borrow a larger sum later.

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

#105
post #82
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you tell us who is giving out large loans without verifying income?

I've never had my income verified for anything less than a car loan. Every revolving credit account has taken me at my word.

Every landlord I’ve had (except for a sketchy cash-only guy) has verified my income. They also verified for my first car loan (I guess due to lack of any existing loans.)

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

#106

Credit scores are so fundamentally broken anyway. In financial analysis of a company, the number one item you tend to look at is "free cash flow" - the "cash available for the company to repay creditors or pay dividends and interest to investors." [1] Why then do we not take income into account in credit worthiness? Why do I not periodically upload my W2 or tax return to the credit bureaus in order to show that yes,…

The way I understand this system is that you have to buy your credit score. Borrow a little, pay interest, so that you can borrow a larger sum later.

You never need to pay interest. If you pay your statement balance by the due date you'll never pay interest but your statement will reflect a balance.

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

#107
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Various parts of the U.S. are already there. You know where those are if you live in them. Ask yourself: How many times have stopped yourself from asserting 2 + 2 indeed is four[1] in conversations with colleagues, neighbors, teachers, or even family because you may lose your income or worse if you did not at least remain silent in the face of assertions to the contrary? For those not familiar, here is the beginning…

You don't indicate a political slant, but this is an alt-right take on American politics if I've ever seen one. I would counter with: For a couple hundred years, Americans insisted 2+2=5. It was even enshrined in law for the first hundred or so years. We eventually agreed on a compromise, 2+2=4.5, but some of our lives depend on the answer to this math problem, so we're not going to stop fighting for 2+2=4. Sure enou…

> an alt-right take

No. Please do not try to label me.

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

#108
post #3

Hey, they got that system in place already in China! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System Go to HackerNews, post a dissenting topic, enjoy no travel or credit! Work in a high compliance job where you have to submit financials yearly, no more!

In the US people working in national security positions also have to regularly (though not annually) submit financial information too.

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

#109

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…

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

(I am assuming "Bitcon" is a typo for "Bitcoin" rather than some new cryptocurrency or blockchain thing I have not heard of).

This reminds me of a question someone once asked Miss Manners:

> Dear Miss Manners:

> Don't you think that nowadays, in modern life, the old-fashioned custom of the condolence call is out of date?

> Gentle Reader:

> Why it that? Is it because people don't die anymore, or is it because the bereaved no longer need the comfort of their friends? Miss Manners is always interested in hearing about how life has been improved by modern thinking or technology.

People lending money via Bitcoin/DeFi or any other mechanism now or in the future are still going to want a way to estimate the risks that the borrower will be able to pay back the loan on schedule.

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

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you can lose your job for posting a controversial opinion in the US, completely privatized. It's a way more stable system. Allow a very narrow band of opinions in practice while claiming that everyone's free to think whatever they want in theory.

sure but you have the ability to post under a moniker that isn't tied to my SSN that private places are able to query against.

Look at the news the last two weeks, blanket condemnation of the Afghanistan withdrawal despite 70÷ approval for it and the fact that all of these educated news people have been around watching for the last 20 years.

Yet we can't get a microphone, airtime or column inches for anyone in favor of the withdrawal.

I'm free to post pseudonymously though!

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