Equifax Sells Private Information To Debt Collectors In 'Biggest Privacy Breach In Our Time': Report [View all]

[unhappycamper]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/30/equifax-sells-private-information_n_2584518.html?utm_hp_ref=business



Equifax Sells Private Information To Debt Collectors In 'Biggest Privacy Breach In Our Time': Report (UPDATE)
The Huffington Post | By Caroline Fairchild
Posted: 01/30/2013 5:32 pm EST | Updated: 01/30/2013 7:41 pm EST

Financial information is considered by most to be very private, but that isn’t stopping one credit reporting agency from sharing it without your knowledge, according to a report by NBC News.

Equifax, one of the nation's largest credit reporting agencies with one of the most expansive private databases of information, has accumulated the salary and employment records of more than one-third of U.S. adults, according to NBC. In turn, the agency has sold some of this information to debt collectors and other financial service companies. That data can make debt collectors' jobs easier by giving them access to information individuals thought only their employers knew.

"It's the biggest privacy breach in our time," Robert Mather of Pre-Employ.com, an employment background company, told NBC.

How does Equifax do it? The credit agency gets the sensitive information from U.S. businesses and feeds it into one of its subsidiaries, The Work Number. Used by lenders and employment screeners, The Work Number serves as a verification of employment and income information.