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How Equifax Became a Private IRS

mattstoller.substack.com

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Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#121

Post by xattt »

piyh wrote: post #44

I've worked on the data feeds for TWN in a large company's payroll system. If I remember right they don't just get how much money you made but the line by line check level data. Your pay data probably goes out to 14 different vendors on any given pay period. What amaze me about payroll was how accurate the data was on average, despite having wild amounts of new regulatory, healthcare, union, and pay program complexit…

> A surprising amount of money is directed by some lady in a payroll department making $40k with vlookup and 30 excel files on their desktop.

I wonder if these people understand their value to an organization.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#122

Post by refurb »

raverbashing wrote: post #115
refurb wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no free lunch. Limiting credit checks to AGI just means everyone will assumed to have an unknown credit history and will have much higher rates. You ready to get a mortgage at prime plus 5% instead of prime plus 1%? But let me guess, we could create a law about that? Having the government do things doesn’t magically mean market forces don’t apply any more.

> You ready to get a mortgage at prime plus 5% instead of prime plus 1%? And for that I had to pay interest/fees on all the other crap so that I "build a credit history" Interesting, I wonder if someone did the math on that (and that 5% is overinflated I think not even the NINA loans were that high)

What “interest and fees”?

I have a high credit score and have never paid a fee or any interest.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#123

Post by raverbashing »

refurb wrote: post #122
raverbashing wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You ready to get a mortgage at prime plus 5% instead of prime plus 1%? And for that I had to pay interest/fees on all the other crap so that I "build a credit history" Interesting, I wonder if someone did the math on that (and that 5% is overinflated I think not even the NINA loans were that high)

What “interest and fees”? I have a high credit score and have never paid a fee or any interest.

CC Annuity? Or even the implied CC fees the purchaser pays indirectly by increased prices

Car payment interest? Student loans?

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#124

Post by college_physics »

The final act of the dystopic digital transition we are witnessing is when the (until recently ringfenced) information flows of the broader financial system start getting commingled with the other digital activity already being collected and monitored. With the headlong rush to eliminate physical cash soon there will be no opt-out whatsoever.

As the world of old oligopolies dies and a worse one emerges, the grotesque and frightening outline of a handful mega-digi-corps that are the defacto rulers of the brave new world is already visible.

There must be some escape hatch from this nightmare, some red lever behind a glass encasing with a label "break and pull when your society is in existential danger". But I don't see it.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#125

Post by O__________O »

landemva wrote: post #102
hnburnsy wrote: post #82

you can view, dispute, and opt out of your salary info here... https://employees.theworknumber.com/employee-data-freeze

Opt out ... maybe, until the next website hack. I recently interviewed and got job offer contingent on verifying work history, etc. After I cleared that, the link for docusign arrived. I called the recruiter and asked about payroll data sharing. She claimed to have never heard of it. A day later she said they don't do that. I explained my concerns, said I won't work for a company that does not respect employee privac…

While I sincerely appreciate your diligence, might be wrong, nothing you signed likely prevents your employer from changing their policies, nor was their accounting of what is currently shared by them likely legally binding. More importantly, inaccurate disclosures by the employer of their information sharing practices likely are not regulated.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#126

Post by HeckFeck »

nextstep wrote: post #116

The US is taking corruption to institutionalized levels probably never seen before in any society. However, the media is so tightly controlled by corporate monopolies that the people of the US still believe they live in a democracy.

You do wonder how much further it will continue. Will everything just hit a wall soon?

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#127

Post by orev »

While the Work Number is a horrible, anti-capitalist product, I can’t take seriously an article that keeps repeating the premise that having a monopoly is illegal. It just isn’t.

It’d be illegal to use monopoly power to prevent others from competing, but that’s a different thing.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#128

Post by refurb »

raverbashing wrote: post #123
refurb wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What “interest and fees”? I have a high credit score and have never paid a fee or any interest.

CC Annuity? Or even the implied CC fees the purchaser pays indirectly by increased prices Car payment interest? Student loans?

I’ve never had a credit card with fees.

I built up a great credit score with a single, no fee card, that I paid off each month. Total cost $0.

You don’t need an interest paying loan to have a good credit score.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#129

Post by refurb »

epgui wrote: post #113
xyzelement wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand what you're saying, I just think it's mainly a contrived scenario. Minute differences in the score (573 vs 605) don't really impact you and there's nobody trying to replicate the calculation to make sure they get whatever it's "supposed to be" - whatever that means. The more likely scenario where someone is going to troubleshoot is "I paid off all my debts and have a lot of unused credit, how come my sco…

> Minute differences in the score (573 vs 605) don't really impact you Don't they, though? How do you know? For a person who gets refused access to some important service or product because they're just 1 point under some arbitrary and unknown threshold, yes there's an impact.

No, they don’t make a difference.

Generally credit scores falls in wide bands that give a general credit risk.

573 vs 605 are both very high risk and you’re getting slammed regardless.

The scores are no more arbitrary than the requirement that bankruptcies roll off your score after 7 years. It’s not 6 years, or 6 years and 364 days, it’s 7 years and yes being on either side has a massive impact.

Re: How Equifax Became a Private IRS

#130

Post by refurb »

mindslight wrote: post #105
refurb wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no free lunch. Limiting credit checks to AGI just means everyone will assumed to have an unknown credit history and will have much higher rates. You ready to get a mortgage at prime plus 5% instead of prime plus 1%? But let me guess, we could create a law about that? Having the government do things doesn’t magically mean market forces don’t apply any more.

> You ready to get a mortgage at prime plus 5% instead of prime plus 1%? So then homes would become more affordable, as monthly payments are the limiting factor? Sounds like a win-win, if that actually were to happen. But it seems unlikely for secured credit.

No, why would homes be more affordable? Credit would tighten up immensely starting with those who don’t have sufficient income.
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