7 ms·
Can we just shut down equifax already?
by dev1n 8y ago
Can we just shut down equifax already?
- ktjfi 8y agoThis is not reddit.
- mumphster 8y agoOk and...? Seems like a valid line of conversation to me.
- shawnz 8y agoExcept it doesn't address the problem at all. What happens when another negligent credit bureau pops up to replace it?
- mumphster 8y agoExactly the line of conversation I'd love to see :)
- philipov 8y agoWe shut them down, too.
- human 8y agoWe should really work on making personal data transactions illegal. I can’t think of a single company that I would be happy to hear that they sold my data to third-party. These companies provide no additonal benefits. Equifax is the worst. You can call them and ask to buy lists of names, addresses and phone numbers of people matching certain financial criterias. Facebook would look dull in comparison if people knew the extent of the Equifax abuse of privacy.
- shawnz 8y ago> These companies provide no additonal benefits. They provide safety for lenders, which allows those lenders to offer you cheaper prices. Is that worth it? Not sure personally, but I don't think it's fair to say that they are totally without benefit.
- jstarfish 8y ago> Equifax is the worst. You can call them and ask to buy lists of names, addresses and phone numbers of people matching certain financial criterias. Facebook would look dull in comparison if people knew the extent of the Equifax abuse of privacy. Don't be silly. The long arm of Equifax has a finite length. We know where they get their data from and you have to at least pretend to "consent" to provide it to them by initiating a financial transaction. The Breach aside, there are federal laws (FCRA, etc.) governing willful dissemination of the data they have on you, and the scope of the data they collect is entirely financial. None of this applies to Facebook/Google. There is no "consent" or opting-in to their lifestyle intelligence pool. You start building a dossier a few seconds after venturing onto the internet for the first time. Your name ending up on a list of middle-to-upper-class sales leads is not a crime against humanity. There are many other ways to get the same data, starting with public records.
- shawnz 8y agoYour arguments seem to work both ways, for example: There is no "consent" with Equifax, they start building a dossier a few seconds after you venture into the open market. You at least have to pretend to "consent" to Google by initiating an HTTP transaction with a Google-associated property. And there are many other ways to get the same data (again, like public records)
- koboll 8y agoThey'll probably be less negligent if they're forced to see Equifax's head mounted on a pike. Metaphorically speaking.
- gooseus 8y agoI agree, but this is not a helpful point form which to start a conversation. It's lazy and below the standards many expect from HN. A better way to start this conversation (imo) would be to make reference to the many mistakes Equifax has made over the years and ask what is preventing Equifax from facing real consequences, such as being shutdown? It's the effort that people place into having genuine conversations that keeps me coming back here and not just hanging around Twitter and Reddit. If someone wants to be lazy and still get online validation, there are communities for that and if you want to have a real conversation here, but don't have the time/energy to start it properly then all you have to do is wait a few minutes and someone who does, will.
- ams6110 8y agoSo you want someone to write three paragraphs for what can be said in six words? I prefer the brevity.
- jjaredsimpson 8y agoNo. I want no throwaway easily consumable venting. Either take the time to contribute meaningfully or don't comment at all. Anything else is pollution.
- mikestew 8y agoYes, I'd like to see someone demonstrate that they put some thought into the idea of what happens when, say, credit reporting agencies are eliminated or curtailed. What would be the negative repercussions, etc. In contrast to a low-effort farting of "break 'em up!" for karma. That doesn't bring anything new to the conversation.
- wtallis 8y agoIt seems like you're arguing against a pithy call to shut down credit reporting agencies in general, when the comment at issue was specifically directed at the credit reporting agency that has the worst public track record for security and privacy. It's like if you had asked "but how will the economy function without accountants?" in response to the dismantling of Arthur Andersen, or asked how online banking could survive without Symantec SSL/TLS certificates. The consequences of shutting down just Equifax are relatively mundane: lenders and other customers of Equifax take their business elsewhere, and Equifax's competitors have some motivation to be a bit better lest they suffer the same fate. The industry as a whole would get along just fine. The less realistic and more extreme hypothetical that you want to debate is irrelevant here.
- asark 8y agoWhat we ought to do—to tie into the "let's break up Google" story also being discussed right now—is make collecting and hoarding data about people incredibly risky. A leak of any size should be a "your company is finished" event. Much collection should simply be outlawed or at least placed under strict user control, GDPR-style. It'd make the CRAs, various other financial institutions (credit card companies, banks), and the tech giants all stop doing a bunch of the most harmful crap they're getting up to. Or else actually pay what it takes to keep everything really secure, while ditching any data they don't absolutely have to have to operate.
- orky56 8y agoIt's the centralization, not the aggregation, that's the problem. If entities, even if under the umbrella of a single corporation, were organized based on datasets to aggregate this info, the risk and punishment could be commensurate.
- sp332 8y agoThere's some value in having a credit reporting system though. You don't want to make it too easy for someone to edit their credit history to make it look like they're more reliable about paying back their debts. (A good system might not look too much like our current system though.)
- ratling 8y agoI will never unfreeze Equifax, regardless of what I do with the other credit agencies. I can't prevent them from collecting my information but I can prevent them from profiting off it.
- craftyguy 8y agoWhy can't they profit from the troves of info they have about you, and will continue to collect about you, if your 'account' is 'frozen'?
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- welder 8y agoYou're mistaken, they still profit by selling your data. It's just banks can't retrieve your credit report to open a new account when it's locked.