Credit scoring. The newest way to fuck the consumer. Now, instead of bait and switch, they're playing games with data about your life to which you have no access. This is among the most contemptible things I've read about in recent years. This is one of those areas that needs federal intervension simply to force these companies to disclose and explain the data they've collected and exactly how it is used and to what end. Moreover, Experian and the like, along with Providian, Capital One and every other consumer credit company should be subjected to the most severe, invasive and ruthless investigation into business practices and an uncompromising audit of their entire financial history. These people fuck anyone and everyone and try to get you as early as 16 years old. Their methods are without ethics and are on a par with the kind of marketing that tobacco used before it was ruthlessly assaulted by this and every other government in the world. Consumer credit firms are not nearly as influential or vital to anyone's lives as tobacco. Along with a few choice insurance companies, they are the swine of the consumer world and should be treated as such by the authorities. A little data for the masses after this rant.

The current issue of Consumer Reports has a longer article on this, but I don't know if it's offered free on their website. This report on MarketWatch from almost a year ago gets to the crux of the issue, although the two reports differ on what the best way to boost your rating is. I normally look for ways to subvert companies that make people pay for their online services, but Consumer Reports is one of the more noble companies out there, so for access to the article (if it isn't free) please either buy the mag or subscribe.
- posted by levinson @ 1/03/2001 08:39:00 AM