| |||||
 |
 | ||||
 | |||||
|
Welcome to page two of our article pages. If you would like to see an article on a specific topic, simply click the contact us link (below) and let me know the particulars. Free Caregiver Manual: Senior Citizens' Resources home page. Senior Moment© is our just for you newsletter. |
 |
Secret Credit Reporting Agencies Exposed The Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA), Equifax, Experian and Trans Union are household names. All of the financial institutions use one, or all, of these CRAs to pull your credit when you apply for a loan. According to the latest federal law, once a year you can get a free copy of your credit report from these companies. If you have not taken advantage of this freebie, go to http://www.ftc.gov and follow the free credit report link. This article however isn’t about the “big three” as they are now called. It is about the CRAs you have never heard of which means you don’t know they exist. If you don’t know they exist, you don’t know their potential danger to your personal financial health. Since I don’t like “secret” organizations possessing super detrimental powers, I authored this exposé. Exposé may be a bit of overkill but after you read it, decide for yourself. You see, if you have ever had a telephone, checking account, ATM card, applied for an apartment, or done any of the consumer type things we all do, you might be in one of these unknown databases. I will begin with the organization commonly referred to as the “telephone bill deadbeat database” by the phone companies. The official name is the National Consumer Telecommunications Data Exchange, Inc. (NCTDE). It was “legalized” by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in September 1997 and went into operation in March 1998. I bet you didn’t know the DOJ had legislative power, did you? Privacy rights activists didn’t either but, to date, no amount of effort has been effective in dismantling what has become a behemoth in the telecommunications industry. The NCTDE (bureaucrats are fond of acronyms) is an information exchange service for its long distance carrier members. Each member reports the names of the people who failed to pay their long distance charges. Not only do they report you to NCTDE but to a third party set up by the NCTDE to maintain the database. Equifax is that third party at present. The bright spot is the NCTDE database is managed in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Note: I put contact information on all of the organizations listed in this article at: Chex System, TeleCheck and SCAN are well known to the merchants of this fine country. They each maintain a database of bad check writers. Your name could be on their list if you’ve written as few as one bad check and whether it was your fault or not. How can it not be your fault? If you are like me you sometimes forget to post a check in your register and before you know it, you’ve written another one and it clears before the first one. The result isn’t always a bounced check but it could be and bingo! you are now entered into the Chex System, TeleCheck and/or SCAN database. When this happens, they now have your name, address, telephone number, bank account number and whatever identification - usually driver license number - you put on the check per request of the store. I bet you’d agree that is a lot of information about you. Once on this list, you can be refused check writing privileges by any subscribing merchant. Plus, you may not be able to open a checking account at your home town bank. That’s right, banks are subscribing members too. Since they do not make as much money from a checking account as they do their other services, they tend to monitor this area closely. While technically not the fault of these companies you were denied an account, they are still the ones maintaining the database so they take the heat. If you are having problems in this area, the best resource I can find for actual help and results is: http://www.creditinfocenter.com/FeaturedArticles/ChexSystems.shtml I am not affiliated in any way with this site and make not a dime from listing their website. If I had problems, this is the site I’d use. Or, if you want to go it alone, here are their web addresses and toll free numbers: ChexSystems SCAN TeleCheck Believe it or not, a Debit Bureau now exists. Just like credit bureaus aid in credit granting decisions, the Debit Bureau aids in debit granting decisions. ATM card issuance and limits thereon and check acceptance are examples of debit transactions as defined by banks. You are correct if you believe this outfit duplicates, to some degree, the aforementioned three companies. Sorry, but you just have to live with it. The type of information the Debit Bureau has on a person consists of your (bank) account opening and closing history, check order history, check writing history, collections data, frequency of debit and ATM card use and your personal demographics. Re-read this list because it is truly awesome and, in fact, contains more vital information than your credit report. For more information on the Debit Bureau visit: http://www.debitbureau.com An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially with this organization. Tenant screening services are well known in the property management business. They provide information on a prospective tenant that helps the manager make informed decisions. That’s the theory and, for the most part, it actually works that way. If this is true, than the information must be fairly accurate but just what type of information is in a tenant screening report? For starters, don’t believe the information about you is accurate. Just like credit reporting agencies screw up, well, so do these outfits. If your prior landlord(s) have reported your payment and residency history, it will be in the report. If you’ve ever been evicted or foreclosed on, this info will be in the public records and it’ll also be in the screener’s report. Your criminal history will be in the report. If you have a felony, misdemeanor, or traffic convictions, all public records, they too will be in your report. The silver lining in this cloud is the Fair Credit Reporting Act governs tenant screening reports. If you are turned down for a rental and the manager has used a screening agency, you must, by law, be furnished with all of the information in your file at the time of your application and the source of this information. You must also be given a list of the people who have received a copy of this report in the past year plus a statement of your rights regarding this report. If the above agencies don’t send a chill down your spine, you don’t have a pulse. These lesser known services are probably more dangerous to your “identity” than the big three. Why? Until now, one, you didn’t know they existed and two, by extension, you don’t know how much false and/or negative information is contained in their files. This all adds up to, at the very least, a wrongful denial of credit or debit services, denial of phone services and denial of checking services. At the extreme end is Identity Theft. Your identity that is. If you fall victim to Identity Theft, you could potentially lose everything you have and not receive remedy for five, or more, years. Hopefully you will visit our resource page (see above) plus do some research on your own. After all, keeping yourself informed on who has what about you in their database is just smart personal privacy protection. ********* end ********* end ********* end ********* end Your Medical Records – Are They Really Private? By Tom Koziol ©2006 All Rights Reserved The question in the title seems to beg a yes answer. However, truth is, there are two answers with the real one a shocker. At least it was to me. The “begged” answer is of course yes. It would be yes if you never let anyone have information about your health and medical condition(s). But, in the real world, this is impossible. The real answer, unfortunately, is NO. And to add insult to injury, it is real in more ways than one as you are about to learn. As I dug into the research material for this article, my eyes popped out and my jaw dropped open. The number of eyes that could potentially see your complete medical history (read complete record) is staggering. The line starts at the government and runs the gamut to bill collectors. Yes, you read that right, bill collectors. Here, with a brief explanation of each, is a list of “eyes” that could see your medical records. I’d bet many of them already have. 1. The most obvious is your doctor, doctor’s nurse and office staff. Most people’s medical records are on kept at the doctor’s office. 2. Hospital – If you have ever been hospitalized, you have a set of records at the hospital. 3. Insurance Companies – If you have ever applied for health, life or disability insurance, those companies have access to your records no matter where kept. 4. The Medical Information Bureau (MIB) – Most people have never heard of this non-profit membership organization. However, it is the largest repository of health records in the free world. Located in Essex, MA, its membership is about 750 U.S. and Canadian Insurance Companies. MIB does not have the same copies as your doctor. Rather they codify you according to certain health conditions. You can get a free copy of your record by visiting their website: www.mib.com In the alternative you can call, 1-866-692-6901 or for the hearing impaired, 1-866-346-3642. By the way, MIB is subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This is important to know. 5. Government agencies such as Social Security, Veteran’s Administration, MediCal, Workers Compensation, Medicare, etc. 7. Your employer may have asked you to authorize them accessing your medical records. The potential employer has the right to ask for medical information as part of an employment background check. The employer faces certain restrictions but not many if you authorize the access. 8. Believe it or not, your medical records may be subpoenaed for a court case if you are involved in litigation. Those relevant parts of your record may be copied and introduced in court. Unless sealed, court documents are public records. This is one way unscrupulous people discover social security numbers. 9. Health research – Sometimes your medical record is used for health research and when it is, it may be disclosed to health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control. Most of the time your name is not part of the record but, nonetheless, it is YOUR record. 10. Licensure and accreditation of hospitals or physicians by certain boards or agencies. Again, your identity may or may not be part of the records evaluated. But, one more time, it is YOUR record. 11. Direct marketers may receive your health information if you participate in informal health screenings like cholesterol tests, blood pressure, and other type of “free” medical screenings you may have seen conducted in your local mall. 12. Health related web sites, Usenet news groups and chat rooms may contain your medical information. Granted, you have to share it but once put on the Internet, it has a magical way of propagating throughout the universe. 13. Survey companies not only use the Internet but mail and the phone to conduct medical question surveys. Many of them are very detailed. If you share your information, it is out there for whomever to use. 14. Tenant screening services screen prospective tenants for property managers. Their checks are extremely extensive. Although health records are not on the list, there is no specific law prohibiting a property manager from asking for this information in addition to everything else. Note: I have set up a special page dealing with health and credit resources at: You do have sort of a guardian angel to help you if you are having problems in regard to your health records. I say sort of because if you become involved in litigation over your medical records, this source cannot represent you in court. Each state has an Insurance Commissioner. He’s your “big brother” in a good sense. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners has a website, www.naic.org/state_contacts/sid_websites.htm that talks about the privacy laws in your state. Visit their site. Unfortunately, this arena is still like the Wild West in terms of legislation and privacy protection and the fact it is getting better is of little comfort to anyone whose privacy has been violated. If you don’t like the medical scenario as it exists, you just might wish to chat with your government representative, state and federal, and tell him/her to take a close look at reform in this area. And, because you have read this article, you are better armed than 95% of the American population. You now can begin taking steps to protect your medical privacy. | |||
