jonm@microsoft.UUCP (Jonathan MARK) (01/26/91)
I found an address which might be useful. A request to this address will allegedly prevent credit bureaus from selling your credit-rating info to random marketers as part of mailing lists. This may be the TRW equivalent of Equifax's offer (during the now-ended Lotus Marketplace uproar) to remove people "from all their databases" if we write and request it. TRW Target Marketing Services Division 901 N. International Parkway Suite 191 Richardson, TX 75081 [Please include your full name and current address, and mark your correspondence: Attention "Mail Preference Service".] I got this from a card which the local TRW office mailed me in response to my telephone request. I'm reproducing here the text of the card, mostly for entertainment value ... T R W As a benefit to you, TRW may provide your name and address to marketers so that you can receive a variety of credit card offers, catalogs and other mailings that may interest you. These mailings have a wide range of appeal, allowing you to shop by mail for goods and services you might not otherwise receive. In particular, credit card offers give you the opportunity to choose from a variety of lenders from around the country in finding a credit relationship that best suits your needs. This way, you can shop for the most desirable interest rate and benefits associated with card membership. If, however, you do ~not~ wish to receive these mailings, you can have TRW remove your name from any future mailing lists which TRW compiles for marketing purposes. For your convenience, TRW will also notify the other major credit reporting companies, Equifax and Trans Union, that you'd like your name removed from their mailing lists as well. To have us do so, simply write to ... [address above] -------- end of quote -------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Jonathan Mark uunet!microsoft!jonm [not speaking for my employer]
cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu (Robert Jacobson) (01/26/91)
I definitely will use the TRW service. However, do I get a receipt or other acknowledgement that my data has been sequestered for only credit purposes? I'll go through the motions and report back here. Bob
glass@portia.Stanford.EDU (Brett Glass) (01/27/91)
The big problem, alas, is that the law authorizes -- in fact,
supports -- the collection of data on individuals, but only
restricts a few of its possible uses. The Fair Credit Reporting
Act begins with the following words:
(a) The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The banking system is dependent upon fair and accurate credit reports....
(2) An elaborate mechanism has been developed for investigating and evaluating
the credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, and
general reputation of consumers.
(3) Consumer reporting agencies have assumed a vital role in assembling
and evaluating consumer credit and other information on consumers.
.....
In other words, the Act presupposes that the hoarding of all this
data on individuals is a Good Thing, and is more desirable than
presenting one's own credentials when one seeks credit. (This despite
the fact that checking credentials with individual businesses is now
well within reach of current technology.)
Then, in the interest of "fairness," the Act goes on to restrict the
conditions for release of, and the contents of, "consumer reports" --
reports to be used in determining worthiness for credit or employment.
However, the conditions under which a business can obtain such a
report on you are absurdly broad. According to the Act, a credit
bureau an issue a report, without your permission, to anyone who
"...has a legitimate business need for the information in connection
with a business transaction involving the consumer."
What's worse, the act says NOTHING AT ALL to restrict distribution of
credit data for other purposes. Hence, a reporting agency can publish
anything it wants to about you so long as it doesn't fit the
definition of a "credit report."
Uncomfortable yet?
<BG>
--
"Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet.
Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has
broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or
where it will end." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson