FINANCIAL JUNK MAILERS DETERMINED TO FIND YOU

When they took away the ability of the credit bureaus to sell lists specific to consumers’ credit history and scores to junk mailers, at first it was like when they thought TV would replace radio. The latter didn’t happen, and neither did the banks and insurance companies give up on finding a way to reach you without credit data. I was a list/data broker at the time this happened in 2002. It all centered around a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) case against TransUnion, which the credit bureau lost on appeal in a lawsuit filed against TU by the FTC in 2000. A three-judge panel in agreeing with a lower court ruled that the individual’s credit history is protected against being sold by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Selling this most sensitive of data was also an obvious violation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed in 1999. In their litigation, TransUnion charged that your Social Security number is not “financial” information; therefore, its sale should not be prevented or regulated. This is one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard from a data broker, particularly one that is also a credit bureau. The Social Security number, along with only a name and address, will open the door to identity thieves with the utmost of ease. But TransUnion and the other data brokers found a way around the regulation as usual, using aggregated data to produce models that would predict a household’s credit worthiness. This was, and continues to be, a major factor in determining your risk when it comes to auto and homeowner insurance. On the other hand, other companies in the field like Genworth Financial Inc. decided the red tape was too complicated, and has begun to rely on non-credit based junk mail. They are a part of General Electric, and I bring them up because I have a life insurance policy with the company, and am aware of their collection and sharing of my personal data. They send out 50 million pieces of junk mail each year, focusing on predictive modeling techniques, according to industry publication, DM News. But once they have captured you as a life insurance customer, here is what they ask for and share where permitted by law. They have my name/address, SS#, income and assets, other credit accounts in my name including payment history and medical data. This is used in the normal manner for eligibility, claims, etc., but it also can be shared with outside “affiliates” to sell us something. And there lies the hitch, since releasing this private information—even though Genworth exclaims the “affiliates” are required to protect our data—is just another location where it sits, waiting to be harvested by the ID theft bad guys. I put affiliates in quotes because companies never explain to you just what that means, or who it includes. I may be paranoid, which I am about my privacy, but this indicates to me there is something to hide.