Equifax Scandal Has it gone too far?

You might have heard about the Equifax Data Giveaway scandal

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5710019

However, there is something you might not have heard

"Three Equifax Inc. senior executives sold shares worth almost $1.8 million in the days after the company discovered a security breach that may have compromised information on about 143 million U.S. consumers."

They SAY they did not know, REALLY!

Honestly, how far does it have to go before people realise that this system has gone way beyond the scope of credit checking or even address verification.

You are forced to give your data (via voters roll) or else face threat of a visit and fine, you can opt out if you have "good reason" in which case your data is provided but with a flag.

Your data is sold at around £40 per thousand records, so your data costs 4p, it is then matched with a plethora of other records, if you are a company director, that is "connected", if you own your home, that is "connected", soon the Land Registry data will be sold off and that will be connected.

Some is already, go to Zoopla and they will connect your address with the last sale and how much your home sold for, which tells people how long you have lived at your current address.

One aspect I have a real problem with is the way Equifax adds additional data it obtains from Company A and say Company B and how it then sells that data to other Equifax Customers.

As a citizen, it seems you have no rights in this trading of your data

You can't opt out, your consent is not explicitly provided and you have no control about the types of company getting the data or the purpose they are using it for.

So it seems to me that the only way to opt out is to become a non-citizen and not provide data in the first place, but you can't avoid your data being shared by ISP's, Energy companies etc.

In fact I heard that the Energy companies are creating a new database of customers and sharing data between them, you can opt out but only after you have given your data and of course it has been shared, so again you just get a flag, your data is still shared.

I have no problem with a credit reference database, the purpose being if you take credit, say buy a mobile phone, of course the company might want to check your credit history before giving you credit.

I do not see the need for TalkTalk to give Equifax data on its 8 million customers every month, when Sky can just verify your details by taking a £5 charge on sign up and crediting that to your account. Of course TalkTalk do this for their own benefit, they get free credit checking in return for giving your data away. There is no consent, no opt out at TalkTalk, no privacy no choice.

I feel that we should have a choice, there is no credit risk to TalkTalk, if you do not pay you are cut off and a charge is made to your account. If they wanted to they could make you pay 3 months upfront, but no. Even if you prepay a year upfront, they share your data every month.

I asked the ICO about this and the person I got through to said "well it is credit reference agencies, we do not go up against them, they tell the FCA to tell us to back off" they said "Well the credit reference data is already in the public domain isn't it" er NO, but they said "it might as well be"

Now you may not think this is that bad but that is probably because you have never worked with a big relational database and do not know how easy it is to "connect data".

Add a bit of social media tracking and the picture is complete, this is so easy you would be shocked.

The Government has already tried to sell off your medical data, to 3rd parties, supposedly anonymously, but combining this data with data that is already out there.

Soon after you will have companies knowing you had a dose of the clap (A74.9), that you are an alcoholic (305) and you have a history of cancer (C85.9). All done nicely by codes, and connecting the dots.

Surely it is time to reign in what for me is the "wild west" in abuse of data, starting with a right to truly opt out of the whole credit reference system, accepting that this may mean some companies may decline to do business with you or impose additional conditions on your contract with them, e.g. a Guarantor, or a pre-payment.

Again, I have no problem with a credit reference database being used for the intended purpose, i.e. to check your credit, IF YOU CONSENT, what I have a problem with is data being provided without your explicit consent, without option to opt out, with no control over this data or rights to have it deleted forever and audited to have been deleted.

What I have a problem with is alerts being able to be put on your data so customers of Equifax can have a "big brother" view of you and for the data to be provided to these 3rd parties without knowledge of the citizen.

I also object to a sign up process that refers to to war and peace terms and conditions which cannot realistically be read or understood or the reference to a web page that says "we take your data and share it, do not complain because it is for your own good and besides you can't stop us".



I want to find an MP who might be interested in producing some legislation or amendment to privacy or data protection laws, can anyone suggest an MP who might be supportive?