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71 Comments
- inactive, on 12/08/2007, -0/+25If it means an end to the endless stream of credit card offers that clog my mailbox daily, I'm all for it.
- crapmatic, on 12/08/2007, -0/+18"pay a fee of about $10 for each bureau [to perform the freeze]"
*****... they're not happy enough making money by peddling our personal information for vast profits... they also want us to pay to control how the information is accessed. As long as our Congressmen are taking PAC money from banking lobbyists and from banks themselves, I'm sure this adversarial relationship will continue. - Murdats, on 12/08/2007, -1/+19well if they are just copying my money aswell then I am fine with that.
- akatherder, on 12/08/2007, -0/+13That happened to us. We had TMobile and someone "from T-Mobile" called me from a blocked number. She asked me to verify my account by telling her my mother's maiden name. I told her it was Thomas (it isn't). She said "ok, we just verified your account, thanks" and hung up. I promptly called T-Mobile and told them and they said that someone had tried earlier that day trying to setup a new account in our name.
We followed up on it later and T-Mobile was actually sending phones to their rental house, along with the police when they had enough info to incriminate them. - bsmang, on 12/08/2007, -0/+8How about "identification theft".
- cheeseron, on 12/08/2007, -0/+7I work with cell phones and we occasionally see identity theft. For instance, can you imagine having the cell phone people do a credit check on you, only to find out you ssn and name already has an account with family lines and stuff?
- DephexTwin, on 12/08/2007, -1/+7Sure there is, it's like the word "asunder" or "aflutter".
My manhood was all aswell at the sight of that woman. - thermus, on 12/08/2007, -0/+5You're partially correct...the bigger issue is that it only takes a name, SSN, mother's maiden name to get $100,000 in credit. The address that the card or account is assigned to many times doesn't matter to the bank issuing the credit line. The idea that anyone can ping your credit report means that your data is sitting there for anyone to purchase. Enough is enough. Securing this data and using a better form of authentication prior to issuing credit lines and authorizing purchases is long overdue.
- DashingLeech, on 12/08/2007, -0/+5Good point. So would that make it identity copyright infringement? It seems those laws are a lot harsher than theft anyway. Try stealing a CD versus sharing a single mp3 song and see which gets punished harsher.
- growler1, on 12/08/2007, -0/+5"pay a fee of about $10 for each bureau [to perform the freeze]"
*****... they're not happy enough making money by peddling our personal information for vast profits... they also want us to pay to control how the information is accessed."
@crapmatic
Good point. I hate the banks and credit bureaus. I will say, however, that if you have a police report that says you're victim of attempted ID theft, the 10 buck fee is waived. - icegoddess13, on 12/08/2007, -0/+4it happened to my grandparents. someone at paypal got their info, opened a credit card and ran up almost $5000 in just a month. when my grandma got a new statement she freaked and threatened to sue paypal but they helped her settle it
- zhulien, on 12/08/2007, -2/+6I think the issue is not their so called "identiy theft", but rather that institutions (banks etc) and government offices use insecure non-private information which they have built their foundations on with the assumption of them being private or secure enough to identify people. when are they going to learn, a number or a written signature isn't enough to securely identify people? I can't wait until clones run amok in the world - they won't be able to use face recognition either or perhaps dna testing :D
- DephexTwin, on 12/08/2007, -0/+4Million's.
- Kallius, on 12/08/2007, -1/+4The arguments against it revolve around the big three credit bureaus which have a combined revenue of $4 billion per year. A credit freeze prevents the credit bureau from issuing a credit report, which most lenders use before issuing credit. But if you have a credit freeze, presumably you're not looking for more credit. Yet companies will request credit reports for seemingly arbitrary reasons, and they pay the bureaus for that information. This is just a case of corporate greed trying to trump the rights of individuals from seeking the best means possible to protect themselves.
- schwit, on 12/08/2007, -0/+3Let me see if I've got this straight on how to freeze your credit data. You have to mail a letter to each of the 3 crooked credit companies. A letter that contains your social security number, name, address and date of birth. A letter that if stolen provides ALL of the information necessary to steal my identity.
Are they out of their f***ing minds? It's 2007, almost 2008. The postal service is a dying method of information exchange and is incredibly unsecure. The only reason a letter is required is the inconvenience factor. - Chetters, on 12/08/2007, -0/+3Digg big time. This should have been an option a long time ago. And if it wasn't how come so few people know about it?
- rodgerdodger5, on 12/08/2007, -0/+3Here is the thing. By voluntarily submitting to the credit freeze law, the big three have weakened the protection immensely and have also turned it into a business opportunity. If you go and read about it, they are allowing you to freeze your report from inquiries by places like Credit Card Companies. Debt collectors, law enforcement agencies, govt. agencies, etc. still get to see your report any time they want. So it is not a true freeze with a pin number to access your private information. Not sure if any states allow a total freeze and keep everyone from seeing your report without your permission or pin number but this is the way it should be. No one should get to look at your financial history without your permission or a warrant issued on probable cause. That is what the Constitution says and these companies have been violating that for a long time. It is very sad when you start looking into it and reading about it.
- Barbarino, on 12/08/2007, -0/+3http://www.digg.com/business_finance/How_to_freeze ...
- Synchro, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2Then you have never been a victim of identity theft and what it can do to someone. My wife found out just before we got married that her name and social security number was used by someone 15+ years ago when they were arrested. So guess who's name is listed as having drug possession, domestic abuse warrants and charges? Gues who may have been turned down for jobs and didn't know why? The ordeal of getting some documentation to prove this other person was not my wife was amazing. Fortunately our county offices rocked and have an identity theft group that helped her out. Now she had to carry paper documentation for the rest of her life so if need be she can prove she is not this other person. How was this her fault? During the process after we found out she was really stressed because she thought that i would think she was the person behind all these crimes and think poorly of her and not marry her. We got through it, but it sucked.
- ayeroxor, on 12/08/2007, -3/+5"Credit bureau's spent $1.4 million last year lobbying against credit freeze laws."
How much did they spend lobbying to use apostrophes to pluralize? - Krabid, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2It's easy to opt out of those credit card offers.
www.optoutprescreen.com or 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688)
It's good for 5 years or you can make it permanent. - jerbaker, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2Actually, the sentence for walking into a Best Buy with a loaded firearm and stealing music at gunpoint is less than downloading illegally. I propose a new file sharing application where you click on the songs you want and someone goes into Best Buy with a gun and steals the CDs for you. That way the sentence is less. Of course the speed leaves a little to be desired, but at least the format is lossless with album art.
- inactive, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2Interesting, I could already do this, and many states allow it. It costs $30 to do, though.
- csixty4, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2That's the way it works. In most cases, grandma gets her money back, the credit card company gets a pat on the back for making things right, the criminal gets to keep the merchandise and not get pursued unless they're a big-time operation, and the merchant gets screwed -- they get a chargeback and they've lost the merchandise, even if they provided the Fedex delivery confirmation with the address where it was delivered.
But I'm not bitter...
Make no mistake, Paypal et al are very self serving in these cases. - MacSuxWindozSux, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2I used to work for the largest credit reporting agency. They rip people off so bad it's not even funny. People get suckered for hundreds.
- aak4, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2They should limit the charge to $5 per reporting agency for all states. In most states, it costs $30 ($10 x 3 reporting agencies) to put on a freeze, and then $30 to temporarily lift a freeze.
- skews13, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2it does make you wonder why the credit reporting agencies lobbied against the legislation
- crapmatic, on 12/08/2007, -0/+2Somehow I think they were helping themselves, not your grandma.
- bhenak, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Yeah, identity theft is an issue but, considering the thousands most Americans owe on their credit cards, maybe we should be worrying more about credit card debt and budgeting http://newlycorporate.com/2007/10/05/budget-budget ...
- CoolWind, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1I think you should send it registered or certified to prevent it from being stolen.
Your assertion that the postal service "is incredibly unsecure." is nonsense. You can request a signature and have proof that your mail was received. - speedracer17, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Getting junk mail is not a significantly pressing issue in my life. It does bother me that it goes directly into the trash and then a landfill. Can't stand telemarketing calls but the FTC has the do not call list.
- CoolWind, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Thanks for that real-life story. People are too quick to blame the innocent, because it keeps them from having to feel sympathy. But when they read a story like yours, the picture suddenly becomes clear.
- thefirelane, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Normally I don't like cross promotion, but your link answered a question I and many others had after reading this... dugg
- rdvade, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1There is a big difference between public information and private information.
- inactive, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Personal data I used in setting up my PayPal account was leaked - it could only have been stolen from inside PayPal - and was used to hack into my bank account. One day I got a call from the bank security people asking if I had just been in Russia at an ATM! We froze the account and tried getting PayPal to acknowledge the data leak. Hah. Fat chance of cooperation out of those jerks. But the account info I'd given PayPal was for a brand-new account not used anywhere else, so I had proof - they'd been the only ones to get the bank account number and associated data.
Later I saw a news story about gangs getting girlfriends jobs inside companies, to steal account data. I always wondered if that was how it was done. - Barryke, on 12/09/2007, -0/+1WHahahahahaahahah.
So you mean *snif* that is wasn't (whahahaha) possible before?
Only in America. Whahahaahahahhah.
PS: credit cards are outdated. - renegadeafk, on 12/08/2007, -1/+2Oh! The Grammar Hammer strikes again!
- ayeroxor, on 12/18/2007, -0/+1bury me all you want. As Well is two ***** words, you stupid eurotwits.
- adrianmonk, on 12/09/2007, -0/+1A lot of our systems today are based on the idea that your information will only be handled by trusted human beings. This was a perfectly fine assumption in, say, 1950, when you couldn't get a job at a bank or something without being checked out and maybe even vouched for personally. Stealing someone's personal information wasn't impossible, but it would come at great risk to one's career. Not to mention the fact that you'd require physical access to the paperwork in order to pull it off. In such an environment, the idea that your social security number could remain protected was a reasonable idea.
Fast forward to now, and we have all kinds of sensitive information all over the place. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that my social security number is recorded in 1000 separate databases. Heck, it might be more than that even. We have reached a point where private information is not handled by trusted human beings and treated with discretion. It's all over the place.
So, we need to get away from a system where simply knowing a number is considered sufficient to prove your identity. Using the number requires you to make it non-private, undermining its security. As a friend of a friend once put it, "Once you tell somebody a secret, it's not a secret anymore."
The trouble is coming up with a system to replace it that works and that everyone can understand. The first part is easy. The second part is not so easy since if we decided to use public key crypto, most people would be utterly lost as to what's going on, how to use it, and even what to do to protect their information. (They wouldn't understand to keep their private keep private, for example.)
A good solution to this is going to take a while to develop. We're going to have to develop ideas that work in the real world, then implement them and prove them out in the real world, and then eventually the gov't and the financial industry will decide to adopt them.
Of course, it would help if we had any mathematical proof that *any* strong cryptosystem actually isn't crackable. At present, we don't have that. It's a little scary to rebuild the entire world's financial infrastructure based on the assumption that, say, RSA can't be cracked, only to find out that some clever guy somewhere found a weakness and could literally steal all the money in the world. :-) - inactive, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/general/2005-0 ...
- jerbaker, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1It's not ethical to charge the victims of your business practices for the costs of cleaning up your act. I'm thinking maybe they should pass the costs on to the customers of that information, i.e. the purchasers of credit information.
- cliffzdude, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Cedit speaking, your identity is who you are. You are confusing your identity as a person walking this earth, vs. that of what companies who offer services or credit, as their view of who you are, or your identity, is simply your name, ssn, and address. With your "identity" in hand, they can find out what your "identity" has done in the past, your FICO score, etc. Your electronic identity is your the key that unlocks your personal electronic financial history. Like many words in the English, the word "identity" has more than one connotation, and in today's credit reporting age its taken on a new sub-connotation. You can't rewrite the entire western English speaking world's use of a phrase just because it doesn't fit your model of grammar.
- jerbaker, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1You misunderstand the term "identity theft." It doesn't mean the theft of one's identity, it means theft perpetrated using one's identity; in other words, not "theft of my identity," but, "theft using my identity."
- jerbaker, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Except it's not. It's theft using your identity, not theft OF your identity.
- shahbasharat, on 09/19/2009, -0/+1PROTECT YOURSELF:
http://digg.com/business_finance/All_About_Identit ... - Scottamus, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1Except you have no choice but to park your only 3 cars in 3 separate lots and someone who tells the attendant they are you can take one out for a spin. And if that someone gets into an accident in your car you get sent the bill.
- FSBO, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1thanks for the great info!
- Memitim, on 12/08/2007, -0/+1Unfortunately it is too late then. Better to pay the mob... er, credit bureaus the protection money that they are asking for.
- one2gamble, on 12/10/2007, -0/+1how exactly is a credit card outdated?
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