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‘Dear Equifax: You’re Fired.’ If Only It Were That Easy. ‘Dear Equifax: You’re Fired.’ If Only It Were That Easy.
(about 7 hours later)
The emails have landed in my inbox, one every other day or so since Equifax revealed that cyberthieves had helped themselves to the Social Security numbers and dates of birth of more than 140 million Americans in the company’s files.The emails have landed in my inbox, one every other day or so since Equifax revealed that cyberthieves had helped themselves to the Social Security numbers and dates of birth of more than 140 million Americans in the company’s files.
And though the words differ (and some are unprintable in this space), the messages all end with the same demand: I want out.And though the words differ (and some are unprintable in this space), the messages all end with the same demand: I want out.
I want out of Equifax’s system. That company no longer has permission to make money off my personal data. I want them to delete my file and never start a new one.I want out of Equifax’s system. That company no longer has permission to make money off my personal data. I want them to delete my file and never start a new one.
It’s hard to blame people for wanting to quit in a fit of pique. This is an industry that uses our personal and financial data as its product and the real customers are the banks and others who want to check up on us. And this breach isn’t like those at other companies that have let their data loose, like Yahoo or Target, where you can simply find another company to patronize. It’s hard to blame people for wanting to quit in a fit of pique. This is an industry that uses our personal and financial data as its product, and the real customers are the banks and others who want to check up on us. And this breach isn’t like those at other companies that have let their data loose, like Yahoo or Target, where you can simply find another company to patronize.
So, can you dump Equifax? And if not, shouldn’t you be able to?So, can you dump Equifax? And if not, shouldn’t you be able to?
First, some practicalities. When you sign up for a credit card or a mobile phone or any number of other loans or services, you agree — whether you know it or not — for the provider to send a report card on you to credit reporting agencies like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.First, some practicalities. When you sign up for a credit card or a mobile phone or any number of other loans or services, you agree — whether you know it or not — for the provider to send a report card on you to credit reporting agencies like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
So let’s say you no longer trust Equifax to store your data in the wake of its breach. Sure, you could approach all of those providers and try to convince them not to send data about you to Equifax each month. But it would be far easier to simply ask Equifax to erase your file and not make a new one. So let’s say you no longer trust Equifax to store your data in the wake of its breach. Sure, you could approach all of those providers and try to persuade them not to send data about you to Equifax each month. But it would be far easier to simply ask Equifax to erase your file and not make a new one.
But what happens if you need to borrow money in the future and you only have credit files at Experian and TransUnion? This poses an enormous problem when it comes time to make the biggest of all purchases — a home. Fannie Mae, whose rules govern the standards for many mortgages, wants information from all three credit “repositories,” as the company puts it. But what happens if you need to borrow money in the future and you have credit files only at Experian and TransUnion? This poses an enormous problem when it comes time to make the biggest of all purchases — a home. Fannie Mae, whose rules govern the standards for many mortgages, wants information from all three credit “repositories,” as the company puts it.
There is already a potential out in the rules that allows for data from just two agencies if that is “the extent of the data available.” While this rule may exist to help people with a limited credit history, there’s no reason Fannie couldn’t also apply it to people with an extensive history that happens to reside only at Experian and TransUnion, and not at Equifax.There is already a potential out in the rules that allows for data from just two agencies if that is “the extent of the data available.” While this rule may exist to help people with a limited credit history, there’s no reason Fannie couldn’t also apply it to people with an extensive history that happens to reside only at Experian and TransUnion, and not at Equifax.
This wouldn’t be ideal for the mortgage industry though. Credit reports tend to be riddled with errors, so lenders prefer a wider range of data to survey. “Lenders will compare the three and make their best guess,” said Pam Dixon, the executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a research group. “They kind of triangulate the errors.” This wouldn’t be ideal for the mortgage industry, though. Credit reports tend to be riddled with errors, so lenders prefer a wider range of data to survey. “Lenders will compare the three and make their best guess,” said Pam Dixon, the executive director of the World Privacy Forum, a research group. “They kind of triangulate the errors.”
While it’s a nifty trick when an industry’s rank incompetence seems to necessitate a permanent triumvirate, a better solution might be a duopoly that actually cares about getting the data right.While it’s a nifty trick when an industry’s rank incompetence seems to necessitate a permanent triumvirate, a better solution might be a duopoly that actually cares about getting the data right.
Lenders who deal in smaller amounts seem flexible enough, and would have to become more so if more people had only two major credit files. American Express already is. It simply looks to the other two big credit bureaus for underwriting guidance if an applicant does not have a file at the third, said Ashley Tufts, a company spokeswoman. (She declined to comment on why American Express plans to continue to send data to Equifax, given the bureau’s now proven inability to protect it.) Lenders who deal in smaller amounts seem flexible enough, and would have to become more so if more people had only two major credit files. American Express already is. It simply looks to the other two big credit bureaus for underwriting guidance if an applicant does not have a file at the third, said Ashley Tufts, a company spokeswoman. (She declined to comment on why American Express planned to continue to send data to Equifax, given the bureau’s now proven inability to protect it.)
Some readers, many of whom will have no need for mortgages or much new credit in the future, have tried to delete their Equifax files since the breach. One person sent letters making his demand to Equifax’s former chief executive, Richard F. Smith, before he retired last week. (The request received no reply.) Others have called the company’s various call centers. Often, they couldn’t get through or waited for more than hour and then spoke to someone who insisted that it was not possible to have a file deleted.Some readers, many of whom will have no need for mortgages or much new credit in the future, have tried to delete their Equifax files since the breach. One person sent letters making his demand to Equifax’s former chief executive, Richard F. Smith, before he retired last week. (The request received no reply.) Others have called the company’s various call centers. Often, they couldn’t get through or waited for more than hour and then spoke to someone who insisted that it was not possible to have a file deleted.
Peter Herman, a self-described recovering attorney in Charleston, S.C., had a typical experience: A long wait, a number of prompts, a disconnection and a firm “no” on deleting his file. Then came an odd warning from the live human being he did reach. Any attempt to get his lenders to stop sending payment information to Equifax, Mr. Herman said he had been told, might result in his credit score being ruined because his payments would be marked late. “I did not then ask for a supervisor, I was so befuddled,” he said. Peter Herman, a self-described recovering attorney in Charleston, S.C., had a typical experience: a long wait, a number of prompts, a disconnection and a firm “no” on deleting his file. Then came an odd warning from the live human being he did reach. Any attempt to get his lenders to stop sending payment information to Equifax, Mr. Herman said he had been told, might result in his credit score being ruined because his payments would be marked late. “I did not then ask for a supervisor, I was so befuddled,” he said.
Equifax doesn’t have to deny these kinds of requests, according to Chi Chi Wu, a staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center and an expert on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that governs these matters. That law doesn’t forbid Equifax from shutting down a person’s file, though she noted that there is a narrow exception for overdue child support notifications. Equifax doesn’t have to deny these kinds of requests, according to Chi Chi Wu, a staff attorney with the National Consumer Law Center and an expert on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the federal law that governs these matters. That law doesn’t prohibit Equifax from shutting down a person’s file, though there is a narrow exception, she noted, for overdue child support notifications.
I had hoped that Equifax would have an on-the-record conversation about why you just can’t quit them, but no one would speak with me. In fact, no one has been willing to speak with me since this whole mess began, though I do get some emailed statements from time to time. I had hoped that Equifax would have an on-the-record conversation about why you just can’t quit the company, but no one would speak with me. In fact, no one has been willing to speak with me since this whole mess began, though I do get some emailed statements from time to time.
So we can only let Mr. Smith, Equifax’s former chief executive, speak for the company. In hearings this week, he spoke out of both sides of his mouth on the subject of our power to cut ties with Equifax. He said that the breach was horrific and described the task of his successor as one of resurrection. And at first, he seemed to suggest that Equifax should give people what they want.So we can only let Mr. Smith, Equifax’s former chief executive, speak for the company. In hearings this week, he spoke out of both sides of his mouth on the subject of our power to cut ties with Equifax. He said that the breach was horrific and described the task of his successor as one of resurrection. And at first, he seemed to suggest that Equifax should give people what they want.
“I envision as this evolves over time, the consumer will have an opportunity to invite into their world who they want to have access and who they do not,” he said, describing the company’s efforts to create a new paradigm of consumer control over their credit history. “It will be their choice and power, not ours.”“I envision as this evolves over time, the consumer will have an opportunity to invite into their world who they want to have access and who they do not,” he said, describing the company’s efforts to create a new paradigm of consumer control over their credit history. “It will be their choice and power, not ours.”
The next day, however, he sang a different tune when Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, asked him to answer a yes or no question about whether people should be able to delete their data from Equifax’s systems. Mr. Smith hemmed and hawed and talked about the ability to lock one’s credit file. But eventually, he conceded that his answer was no. The next day, however, he sang a different tune when Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, asked him to answer a yes-or-no question about whether people should be able to delete their data from Equifax’s systems. Mr. Smith hemmed and hawed and talked about the ability to lock one’s credit file. But eventually, he conceded that his answer was no.
Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat who pursued a similar line of questioning in an earlier hearing, thinks Mr. Smith got it wrong. While she has not included file deletion rights in a data protection bill she recently reintroduced, she didn’t rule it out when I spoke with her by phone.Representative Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat who pursued a similar line of questioning in an earlier hearing, thinks Mr. Smith got it wrong. While she has not included file deletion rights in a data protection bill she recently reintroduced, she didn’t rule it out when I spoke with her by phone.
“We’re not done with them,” she said. “We should be able to say ‘Get out of my life, I want nothing to do with you.’ ” “We’re not done with them,” she said. “We should be able to say, ‘Get out of my life; I want nothing to do with you.’”