I was watching CNBC the other day and Lizzy Warren was on, discussing the Equifax situation. This is probably the only time I’ve ever agreed with her, BTW.
She pointed out that these credit bureaus are completely out of control—they sell your information to all comers for advertising, and you have no say in it. You could put a hold on your credit, but as things are currently set up, you have to go to each of the four or five bureaus individually. One of her suggestions was that the default should be that your credit information is frozen, unless you are specifically requesting credit. So, for example, if you were looking for a loan, the lender would tell you which bureau they were using, and you would OK a search at that bureau for that purpose, and then your credit info would automatically be re-frozen.
It would be tough on the credit bureaus, but the existing situation, where your SS # and a few bits of personal info are enough to allow impersonation, is completely intolerable.
“”One of her suggestions was that the default should be that your credit information is frozen, unless you are specifically requesting credit””
That makes a lot of sense tho’ I hate to credit her with the idea.
The articles from Clark Howard I printed are still on my table and I still haven’t decided to freeze our credit.
I wonder how many FReepers have done so. The last thread I saw on the subject, some were still pretty wary..
I had this frozen deal done with Equifax for several years. This year, I went for loan. So i thought fine...no problem...just log on and do the security deal and turn it off for a couple of days to complete this. Equifax said no....you need to pay up to turn it off, and pay up to turn it on. That was not the deal five years ago when they offered the service.
The system is broke, but I’m not sure I really want the Senators to invent some six-step process that ends up costing me $25 every time I deal with the idiots.